THE TWILIGHT SAD (London Borderline, 10/05/07)

First thing I noticed about the Twilight Sad is that they're more Scottish than Robert The Bruce, Alan Hansen and the Proclaimers combined. I'd not heard a note by them before I entered the Borderline, but the lead singer's Caledonian burr is doubtlessly their most distinctive feature; for my money, I thought it made a really nice change from ye typical indie whine. The frontman's also commendably confident and passionate when performing, although he did come across as too arrogant to be charismatic. Shame that their tunes were desperately average then- true, they were battling against a sub-par sound mix but apart from a couple of fantastic moments when the whole band hit a lot of things REALLY REALLY HARD to create a gloriously ear-melting cacophony, I thought they were rather dull. After all the hype and praise that's been lavished upon them, I was expecting a lot better- maybe I just caught them on a bad night, but the next big thing? I bloody well hope not.