Gig review: Little Green Cars and Public Service Broadcasting

Last week saw two bands who have recently released debut albums visit Glasgow - displaying very different but equally successful methods of making waves with the record buying public.

Dublin’s Little Green Cars have taken a relatively traditional route to chart success with a classic indie rock sound which brings to mind everything from early Snow Patrol, through Fleet Foxes to Arcade Fire.

It’s already seen them named in the BBC’s unerringly accurate ‘Sound of 2013’ list and given them a number one album in their native Ireland with ‘Absolute Zero’.

Playing Glasgow’s King Tut’s they open in stunning fashion with the a capella ‘Red’, followed by an acoustic guitar led ‘Goodbye Blue Monday’. Crowd suitably warmed up, the five-piece then head to rockier territory, culminating in their calling card singles ‘The John Wayne’ and ‘Harper Lee’. The former opens with the line ‘It’s easy to fall in love with you’. It’s a sentiment reflected back by their growing army of followers who should catapult them to huge success in the coming year.

Public Service Broadcasting are a very different proposition, representing a new breed of internet-savvy musicians achieving fame on their own terms.

The startlingly-named English duo of J. Willgoose Esq and Wrigglesworth have hit upon the unlikely idea of sampling old public information films and playing the results over a diverse soundscape taking in everything from heavy rock to electronic pop.

Their intention, as well as the title of their debut album, is to ‘Inform, Educate and Entertain’ and they certainly satisfy at the very least the final part of that triptych in front of a sold-out crowd at Glasgow’s Oran Mor.

With a large screen centre stage and a series of smaller vintage television sets it’s a full-on multimedia show - the archive footage accompanying the music. Whether it’s advice about driving, information about the postal service or man’s ascent of Everest, it’s a heady mix of past and present delivered with consummate skill and verve. There’s even a few jokes, courtesy of their habit of engaging with their audience in samples.

Almost impossible to describe but equally difficult not to love.