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It is, for the most part, a big night of '80s Britpop here at the Middle East, with more shimmery guitars and sprawling pop epics than you can shake a stick at. The Plain Janes are doing it when I arrive. The singer's vocal tone is a bit whiney for my tastes, but you've gotta sing with the throat you were born with, and he's otherwise quite good, tuneful and expressive. The guitars are shimmery, the pop epics are sprawling, and they're the first band tonight to remind me of The Chameleons UK, 'though they certainly won't be the last.
Faces on Film, in some ways the odd band out on this bill, start right in with sort of a yelping, punky screamer. It's a bracing change, particularly since they can (and do, as the set progresses) also do the shimmery Britpop thing, either with gentle, breathy vocals or with rich, smooth wailing. They also dabble in some advanced rhythms, which work well with the elaborate, multi-movement song structures that they share with the rest of the bill. There's no keyboard tonight, but it's still an impressively varied set. They are celebrating the release of an EP tonight, which I am excited to purchase.
Taxpayer return to the sprawling, epic pop. They are distinguished by a lot of warm minor-key brooding, and extensive use of my favorite 16-beat rhythm. (Four 3s, then two 2s—it's an interesting rhythm with a strong feeling of pushing actively forward.) There are some memorable tunes, and intriguing bits of lyrics. (It's always so hard to make out more than the occasional snippet of lyrics.)
Aberdeen City, our headliners tonight, have apparently put together this like-minded bill. They are talented and dynamic, and I'm not going to use any of the words that would describe their overall sound because I've already used them too many times in the last three paragraphs. Instead I'll point to a couple of distinguishing features, like the fact that the lead singer starts out playing bass, but switches with the other guitar player for several songs during the set. Also distinct is the extra floor tom that one of the guitar players has set up in front of the drum kit to beat on during a couple of songs. It's always nice to have more drums.
