Glasvegas, Edinburgh Liquid Rooms, September 7 2008

…and still they rise. With just a matter of hours to go before their debut LP is released

, Glasvegas headline Edinburgh’s Liquid Rooms. Their current UK tour has completely sold out, this date sold out within 24 hours, and tickets are changing hands for £50 on ebay. Right the way up the street, the touts are begging to buy tickets (about time they were clamped down on, once and for all).

So, can Glasvegas cut it live? You betcha. The sense of expectation once inside the Liquid Rooms is intense. Making our way up to the balcony, Mrs. 17 Seconds and I and our friends can barely see the stage, but we’re swept away by the atmosphere. With chants of ‘There’s only one James Allan’ and ‘Here we, Here We, Here We f****g go’ the sense of expectation is immense.

And from the minute they wallk on stage, until they walk off, Glasvegas deliver. And how. They come on stage, tear straight into ‘Flowers and Football Tops’ and it’s brilliant. They don’t pause for breath for the next forty minutes as they play songs from their self-titles debut. ‘Lo

nesome Swan,’ ‘It’s My Own Cheating Heart That Makes Me Cry,’ ‘S.A.D. Light,’ Polmont On My Mind,’ ‘Geraldine’ all go by in almost a blur. The band acknowledge the audience, but don’t milk it, preferring instead to make the music speak for itself. ‘Go Square Go’ gets a rapturous response. ‘Ice Cream Van’ reminds us of how sad and epic they can be. Finally they finish with ‘Daddy’s Gone’ the song that’s gone from a limited 7″ to a major anthem in the space of less than a year.

No longer the next big thing, Glasvegas are the sound of now. We walk out, on a wave of good feeling that lasts right into the next day. This is a band who matter.

[Thanks is due to James Allan, who when I interviewed him said they’d stick me on the guest list next time, and his sister/manager Denise who did. And not least to Ken for getting Mrs. 17 Seconds in as a +1).

Glasvegas’ debut LP Glasvegas is out now.

Glasvegas’ mySpace

Glasvegas -‘Glasvegas.’ (Columbia/Sony)

…And so here it comes. Possibly the most anticipated debut of the

year, and one of the most anticipated debuts from Scotland ever. Unknown and unsigned a year ago, the fever of anticipation surrounding Glasvegas is such that you can already sense some people sharpening the knives, ready to cut them down to size. Sometim

es I feel there’s a sense of ‘indie snob’ mentality ingrained not just on the scottish psyche but Britain as a whole.

Which is a damn shame, frankly. Because, forget that they’re getting so much civerage, Glasvegas deserve it, frankly. Over the course of 10 songs in forty-one minutes, this is a debut that sets out its’ stall and lives up to the promise like we needed it to. Right from the gorgeously

long intro of ‘Flowers & Football Tops’ (re-recorded from its’ place as the b-side to the original version of ‘Daddy’s Gone’) to the final notes of Ice Cream Van, this is a brilliant album from start to finish.

Comparisons have been made with the Jesus and Mary Chain, Phil Spector and sixties girl bands, but Glasvegas are ploughing their own furrow (one which will hopefully not be filled with A&R men looking for copyists). There’s a desperate sadness and yet uplifting euphoria often at the same time.

Perhaps Glasvegas have mastered the art of taking songs that can be as sad, lonely and angry as Elvis Costello’s ‘I Want You’ with th

e euphoria of the singalong songs from Oasis’ first two LPs at the same time.

‘Daddy’s Gone’ will almost certainly inspire-mass singalongs at festivals, and if this doesn’t move you, God help you. The angry retort of a boy whose

Father has left the family can bring a lump to my throat, no matter how many times I’ve heard it. (Excuse me, just something in my eye. *Cough*). ‘Stabbed’ on the other hand is a short and ultra-bleak almost-meditation that takes Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata as the musical background for its’ tale. And best of all, it’s one of those albums that you have to play again the minute it stops; this is starting to cause discussions in 17 Seconds Towers already.

Do yourselves a favour: I’ve been bigging up this band, and so have many others, for months. Know what? They deserve every bit of praise that comes their way.

Don’t copy this, go and buy it.

****1/2

Glasvegas’ website/Glasvegas’ mySpace