If social media updates are to be believed, Glasgow band Turning Plates are currently recording their next release. With influences ranging from Iron and Wine to Chris Isaak (!), there’s definitely something curious ahead. Here’s a few words about what they sound like.
In the old days we used to have a demo mountain. Occasionally you’d get a Copy Haho or a Household but mainly it was a mixed bag of WTF. These days it’s about ploughing through emails, clicking links to Facebook and Bandcamp pages. I enjoy the randomness of it.
Duncan of Glasgow Band Turning Plates got in touch and kindly offered me a guestlist space for a show. For the 29th of May. As you can tell, I’m not always up to speed with music related emails. Twitter is a much faster way to reach me. Two months later I’m finally turning my attention to this intriguing band.
I say intriguing because they describe themselves as having “diverse classical, jazz and rock backgrounds…an experimental and uniquely style.” UNIQUE eh? Let’s not shoot ourselves in the pinky before any music has had a chance to be listened to.
The danger of having fabulous influences is that rarely will a band’s own music live up to them. Sigur Ros, Radiohead, Bon Iver, and Iron and Wine all give you an idea of the namechecking on the press release. We can’t fault them for aiming high! Coffee table indie with strings and melancholy is a constant staple of the Scottish music scene. Standing out from the crowd is no easy task.
BE NOT ASHAMED
Turning Plates’ debut EP Escapism is what I’m listening to on their website as I write this. Recorded at Glasgow’s Chem19 studios with Jamie Savage, the vocals are unashamedly front and center of most of the songs.
The biog says they’ve supported the rather lovely Admiral Fallow which is a suitable fit. Fans of The Unwinding Hours, Camera Obscura, or The Birthday Suit might enjoy them.
This is a band who have the canvas and scope to write epic pop music that isn’t supermarket PA fodder. Much like White Heath it’s about turning that potential into fans and even better songs.
Which reminds me, I need to get hold of Treme Season 2 and refresh my senses with New Orleans, Jazz, and whatever else would have made this a sentence of triple ending beat-tastic proportions.
Did I mention they do an excellent Chris Isaak cover..?
