New release: Like Fireworks - Arches

Yesterday saw the long anticipated release of the full length debut video by new Glasgow band Arches, and what a stunning debut it is.

Consisting of previous members of various Glasgow bands, Arches are certainly no strangers to the struggles of the music industry. Vocalist Michael Rice (Yashin), guitarist Barry Morrell (Young States), drummer Niall McGarvie (Jocasta Sleeps) and bassist Andrew Johnston come together to produce a wonderfully promising debut and stamp their mark on the music scene. Like Fireworks features delicate guitars and alluring vocals which build to huge choruses and rousing harmonies, completing a perfect introduction as to what this Glaswegian four piece have to offer.

With almost a thousand hits on YouTube in it's first few hours of release and having already gained support and airplay from Alex Baker on his Kerrang! radio show, it's safe to say this won't be the last we hear from Arches.

You can find Arches on Facebook by clicking here.

Exposure: Blue Sky Archives

(L-R: Ross, Lauren, Matt, Paul, Pete)

Blue Sky Archives seem to be the words on everyones lips at the moment and, as usual, I'm behind the rest of the blogosphere in featuring this cracking post-rock/pop five piece from Glasgow. Peenko, Kowalskiy and the lovely Wull Swales of Define Pop have all featured the band at some point or another as have For Folk's Sake where someone lazily compared BSA to Paramore. So I'll avoid a long winded introduction and any dodgy comparisons and let the band introduce themself.

"I croon, play percussion and synth." says Lauren. "Paul croons and plays guitar. Pete plays bass and acts as the 'producer' type person (hello, free recording!). Ross plays kit, percussion and bits of synth but refuses to croon. Ever. Under any circumstances. Matt plays guitar and croons in the background, but has just run off to Japan for six months, so a very lovely man called Dave is pretending to be him in the meantime. Thanks, Dave."

While I can safely say they sound nothing like Paramore, I wondered how the band them self would describe their music. "It can be pretty tough to describe your own music without the usual genre-centric jargon and cloying comparisons" explains Paul. "I would just say that we write really simple soulful pop songs, and then play them in as raucous and rousing a way as possible. Loads of percussion, loads of vocals, loads of guitars, and loads of fun." Lauren isn't entirely sure either, "Whenever people ask that question, we always give the stock answer 'post-rock pop' but it's been described in a bunch of ways. Whether it's indie or folky or whatever else, there's definitely a melodic base to it, with lots of harmonies and rhythms because that's what we're good at".

With a lot of experience and an impressive list of previous bands such as Dance Lazarus Dance, Titus Gein, Boyfriend/Girlfriend, Dead or American and Holy Mountain, Blue Sky Archives are by no means newcomers to the music scene. However, Lauren felt she needed a change, "I used to play drums in a band that died a death and wanted to try something new" she tells me. "Paul and Matt were also bandless and Pete and Ross wanted to try playing something different to the other bands they're in, so we all stumbled together at the end of last year."

Paul elaborates, "Each of us within the band have a very definite need to be musically creative. We must have collectively been involved in enough musical projects to start a scene in itself, so we were pretty familiar with each other as friends and peers before starting BSA." he explains. "The band was born out of a few initial songs and the process of finding the right people to do them justice. The line-up was finalised around December last year and we haven't looked back since then. It feels very natural making music together, like we've been at it for years."

As far as influences go, each band member's personal taste helps keep the band grounded and accesible and combines to form a healthy and refreshing mix. "The things that influence each of us in terms of how we write or play our instruments probably sound horrifying when all put together, but I suppose that's part of the fun." says Lauren. "I'm a big fan of people like Sleater-Kinney, Dirty Projectors and Broken Social Scene but the others never let me go full-on girl rock, which is probably a good thing, if only to preserve their manliness."

"Don't let Lauren fool you, she's more of a man than any of us." adds Paul. "She's right though, our influences are pretty diverse as musicians and as people, and I suppose we're all a product of our influences separately. I reckon that's the biggest strength of this band. If we were all brought up on the same music we'd be pretty one-dimensional but it's quite the contrary and it shows in our music. I've been pretty much steeped in a combination of Scandinavian ambiance (Sigur Ros, Efterklang, Album Leaf, etc.) and American indie (Cursive, Rilo Kiley, Elliott Smith) for my whole adult life and I unavoidably play and write in that style. The rest of the gang have their own individual musical heritage though and it only adds to the mix"

Having released their impressive, self-titled, debut EP back in April, Blue Sky Acrhives have already proved they have a knack for writing beautiful, melodic pop/rock. So how does a wealth of experience and such an eclectic mix of influences combine during the song writing process? "It's developed a bit as time has gone on." explains Lauren. "Paul had written a bunch of material before the band which made up much of the early tunes in the set. But since we became a full band everyone has been bringing ideas to the table, writing songs in different ways and finding different formats." Lauren explains further, "Usually we'll come up with a basic soundscape, then add some vocals to see where the emphasis is going to go. With 'Crash Your Face', it was only really once we found the gang vocal hook that we knew where we wanted it to go. That was a nice moment."

As with all my other Exposure artists, I asked Lauren if there were any unsigned or unknown Scottish artists she had been enjoying recently. "I'm dead keen on Meursault (what pipes) and Young Fathers (what beats) but they're both becoming more reknowned, and rightly so! More locally, Stomachs have some pretty sweet guitar jams."

So what does the rest of 2010 have in store for Blue Sky Archives? "We've just finished recording another EP (thanks, Pete) so will be putting that out after summer. We've got some Scottish shows lined up over the next couple of months and are playing at a festival in Belgium in October too with some English/European dates round about, so are brushing up on our languages."

Blue Sky Archives' debut EP is available now from Bandcamp.



You can also find BSA on MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and LastFM.

Cardboard Ships - Campfires In Winter

North Lanarkshire trio Campfires in Winter are set to release their debut EP, Cardboard Ships, and it's certainly worth the wait. For two years the band have been piecing together and perfecting their sound and their hard work has definitely paid off.

I hate to use such lazy comparisons but it's hard not to compare this band to The Twilight Sad. Both share a love for powerful vocals, combining heavy emotions with rousing choruses and blazing guitars and both do it exceptionally well. Even when listening to the title track, you would be forgiven for thinking someone had leaked a rare TS song.

However, comparisons aside, Campfires in Winter are more than capable of standing on their own two feet as the rest of their epic EP shows. The word epic may be over used nowadays but for a three track EP at almost twenty minutes long, epic seems to be the most appropriate word. As an introduction to a band, I would usually expect the EP to be short and snappy, a teaser if you like of what a band is capable of. Yet, despite two of the three tracks exceeding seven minutes in duration, this EP never loses my attention. It's a risky move but they might just have got away with it.

To celebrate the release of the EP the band will be embarking on a mini 'Flat Tour', seeing the guys play intimate acoustic sets in people's living rooms. The tour kicks off on the 26th of July to coincide with the release of Cardboard Ships and will end with an appearance at the Pin Ups Festival on Friday 30th July at The Flying Duck. The dates and locations are as follows:

Mon 26th - Halina's flat
Tue 27th - Steven and Jenny's flat
Wed 28th - Sean's flat
Thu 29th - Lloyd's back garden
Fri 30th - Pin Up Festival @ The Flying Duck

For more information contact Lloyd Meredith (who has now turned his hand to band management) at peenkoblog@gmail.com


Cardboard Ships is avilable as a free download from 26th July or at gigs in the form of 50 hand-made, limited edition CDs.

You can find Campfires in Winter on Myspace, Facebook, Twitter and Bandcamp.

Gig: Aye Tunes Vs Peenko II

After the success of the first collaboration, two of Scotland's finest bloggers have teamed up once again to bring you another night of fine music. Tomorrow night, The 13th Note will play host to Aye Tunes Vs Peenko II and what a night it's going to be.





On the bill are an incredibly young, Glasgwegian four piece by the name of Little Yellow Ukuleles. The Yooks have been kicking up a storm over the past year, gigging the length and breadth of the country as well as being Introduced by 6Music's Tom Robinson. I'm not the biggest fan of Little Yellow Ukuleles but they are a much loved and well supported band who I'm sure will more than entertain the crowd at the 13th Note tomorrow night.





Also taking to the stage will be my personal favourites, Randolph's Leap. These guys make cheery, alt-folk nonsense with the odd Scottish ballad thrown in for good measure. Humourous lyrics, infectious melodies and lots of fun, their set (just like their songs) is sure to raise a smile.





Last but not least are We're Only Afraid of NYC. I only recently discovered this band and gradually fell in love with their dark, loud/quiet, melodic rock. They are an exciting band with massive potential and it's easy to see why both Jim and Lloyd rate them so highly.


Tickets are a steal at only £5 but make sure you get down early as it's sure to be a busy night.

mitchell museum

What with taking a break from blogging and catching up on a backlog of emails, I've yet to find time to declare my love for Mitchell Museum - and what better time to do so than now.

Mitchell Museum are a breath of fresh air in the Scottish music scene, combining the oddities of The Flaming Lips and Animal Collective with spirited harmonies to create wonderfully wacky power-pop anthems. Don't let the comparison to the Lips put you off though, what Wayne Coyne and co have been lacking in the past few years, Mitchell Museum duly deliver in abundance. Regularly crossing the border between genius and downright madness, the only way to experience their music is to let it take you on a weird and wonderful journey. I guarantee it won't disappoint.

Since I've been playing catch up in the world of music blogging, this provides me with the perfect opportunity to whore out some free MM downloads and tie it in with their debut album release.

Mitchell Museum released their debut single Warning Bells early last month and to celebrate the release the band gave (and are still giving) away not one, not two but six free downloads. These unoffical B-sides are a selection of remixes of the band's debut single by We Were Promised Jetpacks and Coach-a-Cola to name but a few. You can purchase the debut single at iTunes or Amazon as well as downloading the free Warning Bells Remixes from Bandcamp. Whilst on Bandcamp, why not download We Lost 1st Prize, a collection of older recordings, B-sides and demos, for free? Cannae complain about that.

Yesterday saw the release of the much anticipated debut album, The Peters Port Memorial Service. A lack of pennies means I've yet to get my hands on a copy but I'll stick my neck out and say, I'll be surprised if it isn't a strong contender for my album of the year. Already picking up numerous favourable reviews, this release is set to propel Mitchell Museum into the limelight where they belong.

The band will be playing an instore gig at Glasgow FOPP (Union Street) tomorrow afternoon before their "Semi-secret album launch party" later that night. For more information on the launch party email mitchellmuseum@gmail.com and you might be lucky enough to recieve a 'secret free entry passcode'.

2010 is definitely the year of Mitchell Museum.

The Peters Port Memorial Service is available now from iTunes, Amazon and all good record shops.



As well as their official site, you can also find the band on MySpace, Facebook and Twitter.