What with James Yorkston, Cayto and Small Enclosed Area from the Hackpen stable and the excellent Fence label, it's safe to say that things are truly stirring north of the border right now and that's before we've even got to the superb GRIM NORTHERN SOCIAL, the exceptional Scottish dark horses quietly being paraded around the paddock by the again-rising One Little Indian.
This quintet, led from the front by the charismatic Ewan MacFarlane, startled us with their debut single "Honey" and its' far-reaching B-side "The Grim Northern Social" itself and here they're going for the jugular in spectacular fashion again.
GNS are by no means an obvious singles band. Indeed, much of their soon-come debut album is ambitious stuff, but "Urban Pressure" - like "Honey" - shows they can also knuckle down to the immediate gear and is a fine single. Blipping into life on a well flash synth and sawn-off powerchording, it soon settles into a joyous stomp, with Ewan hitting cruise control beautifully at the chorus an the whole band earning their spurs as they bash into the cresecendo and revel in reloading the chorus. The little Queen-bothering piano bit at the end is a neat touch to round it off too.
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Once again, though, the A-side is threatened with being eclipsed by its' flip. On this occasion, it's the immortally-named "The Kinky Telephone Song" and it's some track. Rammed to the gills with atmosphere and expansive power, it builds like GNS's very own "Kashmir" and broods its' way through the sort of impressive tempo changes Radiohead were once synonymous with and only Mansun (circa "Six") have dared try on a slightly smaller budget. And this is only a bloody demo version. Christ!
"Take a ride, put your life in my hands" croons Ewan majestically on "Urban Pressure". For once, I think you'd be perfectly safe following his advice. Grim Northern Social are men you can trust to take you off road without fear of a fatal collision. You'll know it unconditionally when you hear their album.
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