Review by Northings
Be A Familiar
18 Jul 2009 in Highland, Music
Hootananny, Inverness, 17 July 2009
A DIVERSE crowd was witness to a spectacle on a wet and windy Friday night in Hootananny. Be A Familiar brought a unique and exciting sound, in complete contrast to the conditions outside, which set them far apart from the current hoards of electro-indie styled bands currently being pumped out of the Scottish music scene.
On tour in aid of promotion for their first split single release, “You’d make a great ghost”, Inverness was the first of seven dates around Scotland.
Be A Familiar
The seven piece consisting of guitar, bass, drum, cello, trumpet and piano, creating a rich sound with an obvious ability to fill much larger venues to much larger crowds. A huge charm of BAF is the twin vocals. With the sharp rough sounds of Chris balanced by the soothing tones of his counterpart Maria, it’s compelling to listen to.
Placing the sound of BAF is tricky. Their sound is certainly Scottish (think Idlewild) but much, much, deeper in terms of instrument arrangement. The syncopated drum beats and ska-esque trumpet makes tracks like ‘Splinters’ and ‘Titoe’ impossible not to dance too. It is truly an amalgamation of the sounds of their influences.
A pub will always be harder to play than a specific music venue. The crowd is made up of people who have come to see you, but the majority will only be there by chance. For a band generating a fan base this is ideal time to attract the masses to your music. BAF took real advantage of this situtaion, conversing with the crowd during interludes and at least trying to get them participating in a clap-along.
BAF are only one of many Glasgow bands which are developing a sound away from the mainstream NME-plaid shirt brigade of the past couple of years. The new single is a split single with city co-inhabitants, Tango in the Attic.
‘You’d Make A Great Ghost’ is released on the 20 July, available for download from the iTunes store or as a 7″ single from Broken Friend Records.
© Grant Maclennan, 2009
