Gig review: Life On Standby, Glasgow

ONE of the last of King Tut’s New Year Revolution showcases of unsigned bands saw Greenock alternative rockers Life on Standby headlining.

King Tuts Wah Wah Hut, Glasgow. Picture: TSPL

Life on Standby

King Tut’s, Glasgow

Star rating; * * *

Incorporating snatches of electronica affords them an eclectic variation on their hard-chugging, contemporary sound, with frontwoman Erin Donnachie’s spirited performance lending them a streak of punk edge. Occasionally, as on opener Green Eyes, her lusty vocal disappears behind the sonic squall of raw, jagged guitar and thrashy beats.

But over the course of their set, its emotive quality tended to rise above the dirgier relentlessness of their output. The deliberate Masquerade has an especially spacey intro and, like new song Shadows, a degree of melodramatic bombast. with Donnachie reaching for the same kind of steely, emotional histrionics as The Cranberries’ Dolores’ O’Riordan. The instrumental 1.34 of Movement was their most intriguing track, fusing Gavin Williams’ choppy riff to some perky keyboard bells and whistles. But although they’ve obvious potential as relative newcomers, Life on Standby still feel a bit one-paced. Finally, they launched their new single Do It Again, in the process exhorting the crowd to get into it because they were filming the song’s attendant video.

Arguably a bit more radio-friendly than much of their existing oeuvre, approaching the anthemic quality of an act like Biffy Clyro, the track’s catchy, eponymous refrain and the response it received ensured the night at least ended on a triumphant note.