Music review: Paul Haig

Published on Tuesday 6 May 2008 20:41

PAUL HAIG ***

KING TUT'S, GLASGOW

EX-JOSEF K singer Paul Haig – a far more modest man than the fitted leather jacket and tinted glasses might have us believe – introduced us to his new single Hippy Dippy Pharmaceutically Trippy with muted apologies for the title's lack of catchiness. Three minutes of tight, Franz Ferdinand-aping jangle-pop ensued, and Haig didn't have to wait long for a verdict. "I'll buy it, Paul," declared one fan.

Haig might well be glad of that, though there is an irony in comparing his new material to that of Franz Ferdinand. The juxtaposition is a bit like saying The Beatles are "quite Oasis-y", but you can take it for granted Haig didn't make his fortune while helping invent a musical style that has endured for three decades. Josef K, along with fellow Scots Orange Juice and Aztec Camera, were at the forefront of the post-punk movement, a genre which has stood up taller than most in the intervening years.

This was an odd show, then – a nostalgia gig (part of Haig's first tour in almost two decades), for a few dozen middle-aged fans, which still consisted of music that sounded fresh and of-the-moment. Of course, Haig's new material can't help but be viewed through the lens of all that has come since. With Franz and others co-opting it for the upper reaches of the charts, there was the suspicion that Haig had tempered his natural style with a poppier element. Yet It's Kind Funny and Sorry for Laughing still sounded pristine, as sharply realised a sound as might reasonably be expected.