Music

Who are they?

A damnably groovy garage pop outfit whose members have been at the heart of Glasgow’s indie scene for years. John ‘Jackie’ McKeown (guitar, vocals) and Jamie McMorrow (bass) used to be in The Yummy Fur with Alex Kapranos, and are joined by former V-Twin drummer Michael McGaughrin – whom the NME mistook as the subject of Franz Ferdinand’s ‘Michael’. The trio made their debut as a backing band for Can vocalist Damo Suzuki, but after a couple of shows they decided to ‘skip the Damo bit’ and do it properly. Impressed by their perksome anthems, Rough Trade signed them earlier in the year.

What do they sound like?

‘Really happy party music,’ says McKeown. ‘It’s not going to change your life, just improve it, like “Loaded” by The Velvet Underground. I love the first three Velvets albums but when you listen to “Loaded” first thing in the morning it wakes you up, then you go out and dance to it and then come back – fucked off your face on drugs – and it still suits your mood. I want to make records like that. I don’t want to tell you anything, I just want to make your life better.’ Feature continues

Bernard Butler has turned them into a pop band

‘It’s really extreme,’ says McKeown. ‘Before we came down from Glasgow, our next single [“You’re Supposed To Be My Friend”] had this long, Television-like jam at the end. But it’s a single and no one needs to hear a four-minute solo on the radio. So I wrote this outro, ‘You’re supposed to be my friend…’ and Bernard was like, ‘That’s it, that’s the hook!’ He moved it into the middle and got me to play an outrageous amount of feedback. He said: “Trust me, I make pop records.” ’

Why are they so happy?

Well, there’s the drink and drugs, which come up a lot in both conversation and songs; a refusal to dwell on things or write depressing ballads; and a recent, Vitamin D-supplementing trip to Brazil, home of their beloved Os Mutantes. In between several packed out shows they joined some Tropicália musicians to write songs by their hotel pool… on the eighteenth floor, no less. It’s little wonder folk go up to them and say: ‘God, youse are a happy bunch.’

Who would they like to play with?

‘We’d love to play with Television,’ says McKeown. ‘Or maybe meet Linda Thompson. I’d like to hear what happened between her and Richard. Miaow… Actually, the person I’d most like to meet is Jack Nicholson. If he supported us he could read out, very slowly, a list of all the people he’s ever fucked to a light jazzy backdrop.’

Why should we care?

Because they play hip, dancefloor-filling ‘rock ’n’ roll like a blonde gets out of a car’. And with the support of Franz Ferdinand and Belle And Sebastian, both of whom they’ve played with, word is spreading. But if you miss this week’s gig you won’t have to wait long until they’re back; they’re touring with fellow hot tips Cansei De Ser Sexy and labelmates The Long Blondes in autumn.

Their next single, ‘You’re Supposed To Be My Friend’ is out on October 30.