Jonathan Trew: LMFAO’s party rock is dumb and insanely infectious
This evening, historians can hear what Trevor Royle and Stephen McGinty, both regulars of this parish, have to say about the role of the Scots in the Second World War and the story of Rudolph Hess’ failed 1941 peace mission. Anyone keen to make sense of current affairs should book in for Paul Mason’s event, named after his recent book, Why It’s Kicking Off Everywhere: The New Global Revolutions. As the economics editor of Newsnight, Mason has been on the frontline of many a contemporary protest and his book tries to link tear gas and the trade deficit.
At the other end of the M8 tonight is a fine bill of alt country at the HMV Picturehouse. Headliners, The Jayhawks, are the gig’s big guns, but support band Richmond Fontaine are not to be overlooked. Much of their appeal lies in the lyrics of Willie Vlautin who as, well as being the band’s lead singer, also writes his own bleak, gritty novels that sympathetically pick apart the lives of ordinary Americans.
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Hide AdIf that all sounds rather depressing then think about the LMFAO gig at Barrowland this evening. If you have to Google the name to find out what it stands for then the concert is probably not for you. Centred around two well connected LA DJs, both relatives of the music svengali Berry Gordy, LMFAO specialise in what they call party rock. It’s dumb, juvenile and insanely infectious.
See what they’re about in the video to I’m Sexy and I Know It, a song that went to number one in North America and Australasia. Set on Malibu Beach, it features a retina-searing array of animal print posing pouches and a series of deliberately daft dance moves.