Gig review: The Wild Swans, Glasgow

ANYONE who was and, in several cases, still is anyone in the fertile Liverpudlian music scene of the early 1980s has passed through The Wild Swans at one point or another, with Ians Broudie and McNabb, late Echo & the Bunnymen drummer Pete de Freitas and current Beady Eye drummer Chris Sharrock all contributing at one point or another to their finely wrought pop romanticism.

Frontman Paul Simpson, elegant of voice and attire though a little nervous at the start of the show, is the one constant, forming the band after leaving The Teardrop Explodes in 1980 and citing "unfinished business" as his reason for reforming his cult creation two years ago with Bunnymen bassist Les Pattinson among the seasoned line-up.

The appeal to a room full of men of a certain age was obvious, especially when it became apparent that their new material picks up seamlessly where the original band left off: the carefully sculpted melodies, redolent in their purity of Simpson's old mucker Broudie; resonant chiming guitars, courtesy of Mike Mooney and ex-Brian Jonestown Massacre member Ricky Maymi; and the frequently whimsical lyrics contrasting grey industrialism with pastoral wonder, providing a portal to their shared past with fellow wide-eyed dreamers such as The Pale Fountains.

Although the basement venue conspired to dampen their open, quixotic sound and the performance became a little one-note, this was still a gracious and classy return from an overlooked outfit.