This one should have been picked up first time through the alphabetical run through of Scottish singer/groups with at least one song on the hard drive, as it comes from a compilation 2 x CD – Rough Trade Shops Indiepop 1 – that I’ve owned since shortly after its release in 2004.
mp3: Katrina and V-Twin – Gifted
It’s a bit of a strange one, as the single released on Domino Records in 1998 is credited only to V-Twin, albeit Katrina Mitchell is mentioned as contributing vocals.
V-Twin are a legendary band in the pantheon of Scottish indie-music, but, and I suppose I better whisper it, I’ve really never taken to them.
The facts are that the band formed in 1997, with the mainstays being Jason MacPhail (vocals) and Michael McGaughrin (drums), but helped out in the recording studio and on stage by just about anybody was who was anybody in the late 90s Glasgow scene, before Bobby Kildea (bass) and Dino Bardot (guitar) became permanent members to record debut album The Blues is a Minefield, which was released in October 2002. Kildea is probably better known as the guitarist with Belle and Sebastian.
A Drowned In Sound review of Call A Meeting, the single released in advance of the album, was very scathing:-
“V-Twin, noted for their immensely affable indie shoddiness, have decided that now is a time to go, yes, rock. Possibly it’s garage rock. That impression would be garnered based on the ‘let it all hang out’ production, and the breakneck speed that the first 120 seconds fly by in. More than anything, it sounds like a cheap Rolling Stones tribute band attempting to ingest all of Keef’s drugs in one go. Frankly, I prefer it when V-Twin were attempting to pastiche the Velvet Underground.”
Gifted predates all that. It’s actually a cover of I’m Tempted, an obscure 1968 Northern Soul record by Sandy Hollis.
In terms of the musicians on the single, Katrina Mitchell has been part of The Pastels since the late 80s while ‘Beans Geddez’ is a name used by Chris Geddes, the keyboard player with Belle and Sebastian. Stephen Pastel didn’t play on the single, but he was involved in the production and mixing sessions.
JC
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