Hootananny, Inverness, 15 October 2010

FRENCH Wives are no strangers to two things, praise and comparison; and it’s difficult to read anything about the Glasgow based five-piece which doesn’t at once praise their craft, and highlight their artistic debt to a host of other acts, persistently Belle & Sebastian, Camera Obscura and Arcade Fire.

Although a French Wives show is unlikely to dilute the validity of such comparisons – if anything it reinforces them – it’s also equally likely to illustrate the sheer quality of their material, and this show did just that.

French Wives

They opened with the infectiously direct ‘Me vs Me’, boasting just the right amount of smart and immediate hooks and punchy ramshackle energy.

French Wives explicitly trace a musical vein from Orange Juice through Teenage Fanclub to Belle & Sebastian and on to the current crop of fine Scottish bands carrying this mantle forward, and operate firmly within these artistic parameters, but, at the same time, they boast some fantastically promising material which brims with freshness and quality.

What they do successfully and skilfully is restructure timeless formulas and inject them with enough creative individuality and distinct stylistic features to render them completely relevant.

The recent single, and purpose of their current tour, ‘Welcome, in the Light’ is a real highlight, and sparkles with an instant irresistibility, as is the sublime folk reverie of ‘Halloween’ and the stabbing string-driven ‘Greet Me By The Doorway’.

As performers, French Wives are engaging, sincere and very cool, with frontman Stuart Dougan an understatedly charismatic presence throughout.

So, it’s safe to say that French Wives are not the most progressive new band in Scotland, but they are one of the most promising. They also appear to be loved in these parts, and their commitment to reaching Highland audiences consistently across the last eighteen months or so, including a stand out Strongbow Tent appearance at Rockness this summer, ensured a decent audience for what was an extremely enjoyable evening.

© Alexander Smith, 2010

Links

• French Wives