Review: Loch Lomond - Sneaky Pete’s, Edinburgh

“IN America,” said singer Ritchie Young, “we pronounce it ‘Lock Law-mund’ and everyone’s like…” and he nodded deferentially.

“Don’t tell them that!” cut in keyboard player and backing singer Brooke Parrott. We’ll forgive him his pronunciation, though.

For the packed audience in Sneaky Pete’s, the fact they’re named after a Scottish tourist attraction is quite far down the list of reasons the Portland, Oregon outfit are such an exciting draw.

Stripped down from their usual six-piece line-up, Young and Parrott presented a show which was sparse and emotional, with Young – Loch Lomond’s lead singer and songwriter – embodying the heart of their recorded sound, as heart on the newly Chemikal Underground-released album Little Me Will Start a Storm. His voice is stunning but not overwhelming, a spectral tour around the higher registers which reflected the wintery chill in the air outside. In songs like Elephants & Little Girls and Tic, his fellow Portlanders the Decemberists and breakthrough indie-folk successes Fleet Foxes were faintly echoed.

Lyrically too, this band make an impression. “The sound of children laughing makes my eyes bleed,” sang Young in a bittersweet chime during A Field Report, later making the quirky assertion that “I once met a girl… whose mother was dyslexic like mine.” It’s like Neil Young soundtracking a Wes Anderson film. Following their signature track, the beautiful duet Wax & Wire, the pair were cheered back onstage with a wild ovation, the muted, waltz-timed finale of Night Bats leaving the crowd hungry for a return visit sometime soon.

RATING: ****