And You Will Know US By The Trail Of Dead

Another stupidly long band name, so long in fact, that I only have to mention And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead's name 45 times, until I reach the eGigs word count, and I can sit down, have a couple of beers and try unsuccessfully to bludgeon the incessant ear-ringing that tonight's gig had forced upon me.

And you will know us by the....ugh, lets just call them AYWKUBTOF, no wait that's still to long, how about just 'Trail of Dead' from now on? That'll do. Texas based quintet Trail of Dead are now five albums into a career that has seen them ignored by the vast majority of the British public, yet gained an impressive cult following.

The group were performing at one of Glasgow's strangest, but most enchanting venues, Oran Mor, which seemed to be a fitting place for a group who have a tendency to create an atmospheric, sometimes euphoric ambience.

Very rarely have I seen such impressive drumming in a band, and Trail of Dead were one of the tightest groups I've witnessed in a long time, the musical competence further exemplified by their constant role swapping, instruments being passed from band member to band member, and vocal duties banded around as if being a frontman is something that should only happen in equal doses.

'Fuck Valentines Day!' is met with a hearty cheer; I guess a lot of singletons have decided to hide away in Oran Mor tonight rather than wander the streets among Cupid's sickly sweet marketing suckers.

The music swoons quite effortlessly from full on guitar laden aural assaults, to delicate melodies, always building to surging climaxes that make Trail of Dead an entertaining and complex band to watch. 'Mistakes and Regrets', while sounding a little dated in comparison to the group's recent sound, is an anthemic number taken from 1999's Madonna album, and provides one of the highlight's of the gig.

'Totally Natural' and 'Will you smile again' were both included in a set that featured some impromptu crowd surfing and a weird and unfitting rap segment. Despite the crowds obvious enthusiasm for much of Trail of the Dead's earlier material I felt they were slightly overshadowed by the screeching brilliance of support act Forget Cassettes, who, although far from easy on the ear, provided a more than entertaining support, working experimentation in a way that Trail of Dead fans will lap up enthusiastically.

To the neutral fan tonight's gig was little more than a pleasing diversion from the commercial jaws of Valentines Day, but to the obsessive Trail of Dead devotee it was no doubt a blistering display from an extremely underrated cult group. Perhaps not a group I will ever particularly get behind, but impressive musicianship (especially the drumming) and a subtle drive for experimentation certainly does put Trail of Dead in a favourable light.

FUTURE GIGS

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