Offside Strikers of the Re-arranged Venue,

I’ve been listening to a couple of quality albums this week. The case that I should have been listening to more than just two is valid and I have rectified that with some extensive online ordering to catch what I missed.

Anyway, the self-titled album by The Kissaway Trail was hotly-anticipated around Bellyaches Towers; it was almost as exciting as reading the story in the East Fife Mail about the Tory MSP, who is hoping to be re-elected. Whilst canvassing Ted Brocklebank spat in a man’s garden, the man was going to vote for Ted until the incident and the ensuing argument, he has since changed his mind. So, this album is on the hallowed Bella Union label and The Kissaway Trail are from Denmark. The album has an introductory track, Forever Turned Out to be Too Long, rather than just another song. Smother + Evil = Hurt is the lead single and rightly so, it’s a magnificent piece of music; it has some strings on it and excellent layering of synths. It’s a song that should be on the radio, it’s perfect pop with simple but applicable lyrics, “we put favourite tracks on repeat, forgot ourselves” or “where were you when the light got defeated, a thought less is a thought more needed”, it’s got a likeness to the Polyphonic Spree. There are probably a lot of pedals and buttons needed when they play live, perhaps a bit like Bella Union pals, Midlake. Apart from the perfect Scandinavian pop, the Kissaway Trail also do some of that Scandinavian iciness, like Mew do; It’s Close Up Far Away is like that, it has a bit of a Shuttleworth beat but the drawn out vocals, give it a sadness and a sense of perspective, the lyric that exemplifies this is “look at the roads like veins and the cities as blood clots”, it’s deeper than it looks. La La Song is another super up-tempo bit of pop; it’s as simple as they come; mostly consisting of “la”s and talk of running to LA, it’s good that it doesn’t actually praise that band The Las - I hate that song that the radio always plays. 61 comes close to possessing the power of Arcade Fire’s Intervention, that chant of “We can, we’re strong, we’ll beat it!” is the main feature of this tune. The album ends with a few more icy auras. On the whole, it’s a well segued album, it feels complete. Musically, it’s composed well and lyrically, it’s simple but effective.

I was really impressed by De Rosa’s contribution to Ballads of the Book project thus I purchased their album Mend which was also released on Chemikal Underground Records. De Rosa is four men. I initially struggled with this album, the opening two tracks are not really of my favourite ilk, although I do admit that they are top quality fast guitar songs. New Lanark is where I really like to start to like this album, it starts to use that special Scottish quality that is there if Scottish bands care to use it. It can involve singing in a distinctly Scottish voice. It involves slowing down the guitars and using them more subtly in the lead up to purposeful crescendos. Hopes and Little Jokes sounds a bit like a Scottish I Am Kloot, it’s a quality acoustic number. It utilises that songwriting trick for a few lines; the I-am-the-A-in-the-B trick. The best example of this is always going to be Gin-soaked Boy so it was wise of De Rosa just to stop a few lines into the song. By On Recollection, the album has won me over and I can accept more upbeat, less duffer-like music, anyway, this is a toe-tapper and head-nodder. On the evidence of this album, De Rosa are a top band who write innovative songs in different styles, Mend is an excellent album of a fine Scottish tradition.