Mt. Doubt and Acrylic , with support from The Strives, at The Tooth & Claw, Inverness.
As I climbed the stairs while entering the Tooth and Claw, you could hear some very nice fast paced indie rock coming from The Strives. The Forres based 3 piece play as a really tight unit, with non-stop effort.
A band with a similar sound and feel to them of early Arctic Monkeys through to the more recent Kings of Leon, and with just enough of themselves to make the band work brilliantly. One of the tracks had a deep reverb running through a lot of it and while I was not sure of it at first, it grew in to my favourite track from them for the night.
Up next were Glasgow lads Acrylic who had organized the evening with Mt. Doubt for the purpose of launching their double A side singles Where I Lie and Mouthwash. As Acrylic came to the stage I was delighted to see that lead singer Andreas Christodoulidis had returned with his now trademark dungarees! Now enough of the fashion files, I was there to watch one of the brightest young bands coming out of Scotland at the moment.
Their opening number was an atmospheric jingly pop tune with lyrics “Coasting through the daytime,” resonating with me and my current work situation. Next they gave us Overrun, their last single, a punchy track from start to finish, before moving on to the new Single Where I Lie. Where I lie is siding on the bands darker side compared to overrun, but not in a negative way. Everything works really well in the track and you can see why Scottish Fiction wanted to release it. They finished off with “All I am” (I do hope this is the correct name!) another really good track. I have caught Acrylic a couple of times now and really look forward to seeing them again.
Mt.Doubt come on to the stage and get straight in to it with Afterglow a dark but catch pop song from their album “In Awe of Nothing.” I think this is a brilliant track to kick off their set as it shows off a lot of what the band can do. Soft Wrists really impressed me with a real build up to the end of the track bringing out the full force of front man Leo Bargery’s vocal talents. Add in to the mix the delightful tones of Annie Booth and you know you are on to a winner. They played Purity from latest EP “The Loneliness of the TV Watchers,” before playing the new single Mouthwash. Mouthwash seems a very distinct in its sound and from it comes a lighter side of the band, compared to the darker tones from the last EP. It always surprises me, the musical genius that comes from the band, with one track can be haunting and beautiful and the next poppy and light. They finish of with Natural Swimmer which once again burst forth with raw and powerful lyrics.
I have seen Mt. Doubt four times now and have to say that they get better every time. Scottish Fiction have built a good alumni of acts with Acrylic, Annie Booth, Mt. Doubt and Foreignfox the future is looking very bright for the capital based label.
You can buy the Double A-Side single here.