Gig review: The Gothenburg Address

Published on Tuesday 8 December 2009 19:52

MONO, GLASGOW ****

WITH former members of Arab Strap and The Zephyrs both on hand, Edinburgh quartet The Gothenburg Address have individually been around the block a few times. So it felt curious to find them launching their self-titled debut album to such minimal fanfare – on a Monday night in front of just a handful of people at Mono.

It didn't seem to do their music much justice. While they don't bring anything especially new to the instrumental post-rock table – and few bands do – on the evidence of this performance they approach their craft with a sonic and emotional precision that adds up to something visceral and pretty fantastic.

The quiet/loud dynamic that Mogwai made their own early in their career is The Gothenburg Address's template and they're sticking to it, right down to the long-winded song-titles.

But there are some tweaks: a driving rhythm section, and a tendency towards bright, chiming melodies, rather than lurking too long in the minor key shadows.

For every bit of slow-building tension there was a speedy release – From Med to Lay, for instance, was endowed with a soaring hook that almost acted as wordless chorus.

Nervy silences between the tunes generated an awkward atmosphere, but what little patter there was from guitarists Luke Joyce and Chris Bathgate revealed the band's members to be softly-spoken chaps who are perhaps just content to sit back and trust that their music is loud and insistent enough to speak for itself. The cacophonous final medley of Leaving the Last Behind and the sludgy I Am Made of Hearts + Fire suggested that might not be a forlorn hope.