Summer Nights: The Ok Social Club, Dead Electric, Val Verde and Davey Horne
King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut, Glasgow
23/07/2011

Perking up the inevitable summer lull in Glasgow’s gig schedule is King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut’s Summer Nights series, two weeks of gigs showcasing a remarkably healthy glut of emerging talent. First on tonight are The OK Social Club, all bouncy haircuts and puppyish Pogues-esque abandon. Something about their hyperactive spiky guitars calls to mind Franz Ferdinand’s manifesto to make music for girls to dance to, and while they might not be reinventing the wheel just yet, it’s a promising start and a pleasure to watch.

The pace changes with some rather lovely hypnotic shoegaze from relative newbies Dead Electric. Displaying shades of Smashing Pumpkins and Mew, songs like ‘The Company’ build to towering spectres, their slow seductive pulse simply compelling the crowd to move, eyes fixed on the stage. Dunfermline five-piece Val Verde are extremely tight, their thundering drums in particular demanding attention, but they’re only almost great. An extended set reveals them to be devotees of the Glasvegas epic school of songwriting, and there is sadly a lack of any real spark.

Rounding off proceedings is Davey Horne, who doesn’t quite look of this time and has clearly been paying attention to Paulo Nutini. He offers squelchy pub soul-rock which is pleasant enough but feels a little unnecessary. Thankfully, though, he is in possession of a raw, bluesy voice which elevates his songs above pub band standards, and there is no faulting his backing band, who are note-perfect throughout, but they can only work with the tools they have been given.

It’s a mixed bag, certainly, but it’s also an entertaining one, and judging by the size of tonight’s crowd, Summer Nights is a successful, accessible platform to generate much needed support and, crucially, excitement for fledgling bands – a heartening sight indeed.

Heather Crumley