The Moth & The Mirror/Amber Wilson/Blood Blood     
Captain’s Rest, Glasgow
02/09/1011

Blood Blood finishes his first song tonight by saying: “alright, that one was a bit shit, but the rest are better.” Standing alone on stage with only a laptop, a mic, and a broken keyboard for company, The Fly can’t help but feel a little anxious for him. With a pre-recorded backing track there’s always the fear that a set becomes rigid and lifeless. However, throughout Blood Blood’s performance there is a constant tension and more than a little humour. At points the laptop is buzzing and threatening to cut out. The keyboard only works on one setting, an organ sound he describes as, “garish”.

A shared nervousness spreads throughout the crowd when, forgetting he needs to play with both hands, a can of beer is balanced precariously on the failing laptop’s keyboard. Basically, throughout the set there persists a constant fear that at any moment everything might just fall apart. And it’s fucking brilliant. Thin electronic drums race at a break-neck pace beneath more relaxed organs and guitar – made sense of when he claims, “this song sounds like Arab Strap, but more shit”. Vocals separate the two, Blood Blood’s sung rather than spoken, at times in pretty outstanding harmony – layers of pre-recorded tracks erupting out above glitching drums. It is not clear that tonight’s comedy would find its way onto record, but here it adds to the enjoyment of what could easily have been a disastrous set.

By contrast, Amber Wilson’s performance is distinctly uneventful. Her band are faultless and technically brilliant, but having just witnessed such a seat-of-the-pants display, it all looks a bit easy. Bringing a full band adds a depth not present on her recordings – the sound is lush and dreamy, the sort of thing you might hear on a Josh Rouse record; all whispery vocals and an air of summery nostalgia. It just lacks a bit of an edge.
      
With musicians involved in Frightened Rabbit, Admiral Fallow, The Reindeer Section and Arab Strap, it would be fair to say The Moth & The Mirror are a bit of a Glasgow super-group. As such, it’s clear that there are other priorities to contend with. He of Admiral Fallow, Louis, has other commitments tonight, and so we’re left with five. However, the band don’t flinch, rearranging parts and leaving nothing out of place. They’ve described their music as ‘Big Scary Lullabies’, and this pretty much sums it up. Capable of hushing the crowd with whispered vocals, enchanting glockenspiel and tender acoustic guitar, they’ll just as quickly turn on you with crashing dissonant chords and pounding percussion. Tonight’s gig serves to celebrate the band’s single ‘Germany’, and quite the celebration their ‘pop’ song proves to be. Staccato bass and angular guitars give way to a dense chorus of distant harmonies. Topped off with triumphant carnival drums from dual percussionists, they even crack out a whistle – yep, a fucking whistle – and somehow manage to get away with it.

Matthew Scott