The Scotch of Saint James EPLaunch

Thu 30th Oct, 2008 in Gig Reviews

After a boozy, somber funeral and scattering of ashes around Bon Scott’s grave, The Slim Pickins are no more and like a phoenix, The Scotch of Saint James has risen. The four-piece recently decided on a new name for their well-known booze-rock venture as they felt the old name pigeonholed them into an idea that they had outgrown and moved past. No longer were the Pickins to be thought of as a bunch of hillbillies, playing banjos like a scene from Deliverance. The Scotch launched their new EP, confusingly titled The Slim Pickins to a healthy crowd at the Hydey Back room with support from Blackmilk, Ghengis and Capital City.

Unfortunately arriving a little late to catch Ghengis, the Hydey crowd numbers were steadily increasing and Blackmilk were onstage smashing out their dark countrified take on rock n roll. Even with a seemingly uneven mix, the 5 boys held nothing back with their nice blend of psychedelic swamp rock that gave the evening an ominous beginning of things to come. It did seem unfortunate that perhaps some of the melody of Todd Pickett’s keyboards was being drowned out by the huge wall of guitars that limited the overall sound of the band.

Capital City were up next and they sharpened up the sound with some more angular guitars and tighter drumming. The four-piece started to get the evening kicking with some dancers migrating to front-and-centre which lifted the vibe in the room which was a little confusing with its cafeteria style setup of tables and chairs. With a host a high profile supports now under their belt, Capital City are looking and sounding sharper than ever, even though guitarist Kate Mills and drummer Jake Snell are recent additions to the band. With more well-known tracks such as Let’s Throw Our Love Away and It Aint a Lonely Hurt No More sounding great, frontman Sam Scherr’s Hutchence like howl kept things upbeat and interesting.

But tonight was all about the Scotch, the somewhat regal and esteemed, yet still a little tainted, new incarnation of the hardworking rockers. Fronted by rock pig/god Michael Paver, who Faster Louder hears on good authority never wears shorts, even when he is bricklaying on 40 degree days, The Scotch certainly look the part when they stroll on stage. With new guitarist Bobby Burgess spicing up the riffing, and rhythm section Simon Roggio and Timothy Hamzah tightening the screws of their sound, opener Oliver sounds fresh but it is the next two tracks of Thomas Thomas and Killer Line that are noticeably reshaped from some of the band’s previous material. It is the galloping rhythms and four to the floor beats that animate the now sizey crowd on the dancefloor. Killer Line is perhaps the band’s catchiest song to date and Paver leaves nothing behind, belting out the naughty refrain of – œOne more killer line!’ Emphasis on melody has clearly been reinforced in the new ethos and songwriting has stepped up a notch to bring the band’s sound into clearly more unique and accessible territory. With an occasional shredding guitar solo from Burgess and the clear passion displayed by Paver as he progressively loses more and more items of clothing, the crowd is responsive and happy to join in the enthusiasm shown by the band.

One can only feel that with new name and new direction for the band, they are just awaiting that big single to catapult them into the next widely recognised name coming from Perth. Let’s hope their second EP, due out in a couple of months, contains that breakthrough that so many think they’re capable of.