Under the radar: Hard work pays off as The Ads land deal and release new single

Published on Thursday 29 May 2008 21:15

Olaf Furniss and Derick Mackinnon report from Scotland’s underground music scene...

OUR track of the month band, Glasgow quartet The Ads (www.myspace.com/theads) launched themselves in 2007 with a sold-out debut gig at King Tut’s. Since then they’ve gained airplay from BBC Radio 1’s Colin Murray and Zane Lowe as well as XFM’s Jim Gellatly. They’ve toured the UK several times and landed themselves a management deal. Their new single, Say That It’s Summer, is released on 23 June supported by with a six-date Scottish tour starting on 25 June. They are a

• The Ads are also among the bands playing Glasgow’s Sauchiehall Crawl on Sunday, (details: www.myspace.com/thesauchiehallcrawl) a fantastic event over three venues (ABC2, NiceNSleazy and The Beat Club), showcasing 11 acts including Twilight Sad, Make Model, El Padre, How To Swim and We Were Promised Jetpacks. Tickets for entry to all three venues are just 15.

&#149 A less guitar-orientated act from Glasgow is Binary Zero ( www.myspace.com/binaryzero), whose debut album From Here You Can See Everything is released on Alex Tronic Records on 6 June. The highlight is a track called 5th Objective, which features an (authorised) sample of a David Icke speech underpinned by seven minutes of infectious techno wizardry.

Edinburgh’s Kid Canaveral ( www.myspace.com/kidcanaveral) launch their joyous summer single Teenage Fanclub Song at a gig in Henry’s Cellar Bar on 20 June.

And still in the capital, talented singer-songwriter and recent Aberfeldy recruit, Chris Bradley, ( www.myspace.com/chrisbradleymusic), has his debut album Voices released on the excellent Black Spring Records on 26 June at the city’s Voodoo Rooms. This will be preceded by what looks like a two-week tour of other Edinburgh venues, so there is no excuse to miss him.

&#149 First it was lager, then alcopops. Now it seems that pear cider is the latest beverage to get involved with music. Swedish pear cider brand Kopparberg is now branching out with its Singles Club initiative. Throughout June, July and August, Kopparberg will support six Scottish bands by releasing a split 7” single and digital download and arranging a monthly Scottish tour. The Singles club launches on 23 June with The Moth & The Mirror and the ubiquitous Ads, followed by Juno and Kobai then dbass and Injuns in July and August respectively.

&#149 The annual GoNorth ( www.gonorth.biz) event returns on 5-6 June. This year Dundee hosts the numerous daytime panels and more than 60 free showcase gigs.

Launched in 2001 from Aberdeen, the idea behind the festival was to bring the UK music industry to the Highlands and give bands in the north of Scotland the opportunities to meet the movers and shakers from the industry at home and from overseas. GoNorth is once again linking up with RockNess Festival, which will see some of the bands performing at GoNorth get slots on the XFM stage on 7-8 June at RockNess.

Among the Highland bands worth checking out are Lowtide Revelry, Sorren Maclean Band and Dotjr, while French electronic punk act Pravda ( myspace.com/pr4vd4) look set to bring some much-needed sexual glamour and exposed flesh to the Presbyterian masses.

&#149 Olaf Furniss and Derick Mackinnon host the club night Born to be Wide. The next one is at Edinburgh’s Voodoo Rooms on 3 July, in association with The Musicians Union.