Thrice
The Garage, Glasgow
19/01/09

This is pretty early stuff. Early doors, and an early curfew too. Soon this venue will be possessed by a rabid gaggle of blonde females inhaling their vodka and lemonades as it turns into one of Glasgow’s most frequented clubs, but right now, it’s distinctly black with a plentiful supply of fringe.

This is because American rockers Thrice are in town, and tonight they’ve brought with them a friend on guitar too. Guitarist and co-founder of the band Teppei Teranishi is unable to fulfil the tour due to family issues back home, so step up Nate Patterson of indie-progsters The Dear Hunter.

And doesn’t he fit in well. Patterson snakes around the stage, consummating with the clinical beats from the drum kit, grinning like a crumb-fingered man who’s just found a tenner down the back of the sofa. But there are two shades lingering over the set tonight. The older material hints towards a Taking Back Sunday-esque aura with whipsing lead guitar and punky dynamics, whilst the newer cuts engage in introspective, experimental and groove based sounds. And it’s the latter in which this band shine. ‘All The World Is Mad’ is a swaying trod through gruff melody and back, whilst the rudimentary ‘In Exile’ strips things down into a lulling sing a-long.

The progressive nuances subtly beamed on their latest wares ‘Beggars’ and in the lighter moments of their concept behemoth ‘The Alchemy Index’ are pretty redundant in tonight’s live environment. But still, the likes of the weighty ‘The Earth Will Shake’ are succinct antidotes to the cheesy pop club culture that will soon descend on this city centre hangout. And amen to that.

Chris Cope