Category: Vultures

A short time ago, I gave a first ever mention to The Vultures as part of the long-running ‘Saturday’s Scottish Song’ series.  The song, Good Thing, was lifted from the box set, Big Gold Dreams (A Story of Scottish Independent Music 1977-1989).  Click here for a reminder.

It was the lead track of the band’s sole EP, released on the Nardonik label in 1988, and I closed off by saying that I was so taken by again hearing it that I’d gone and ordered a second-hand copy of the EP via Discogs with the intention of sharing its other three tracks with you.

Here we go:-

mp3: The Vultures – Jack The Ripper
mp3: The Vultures – What I Say
mp3: The Vultures – You’re Not Scared

The whole EP comes in at 9 minutes, and that’s only because What I Say takes up three of those minutes.  The other three tracks all come in at less than 120 seconds.

It’s not a huge output in terms of the history of recorded music, but The Vultures deserve to be celebrated.

JC

From the booklet which accompanied the box set, Big Gold Dreams (A Story of Scottish Independent Music 1977-1989)

Forming at Edinburgh College of Art, and named out of a desire to sound tougher than many of their contemporaries, The Vultures were a quartet comprising Janie Nicoll, Allison Young, Anna Watkins and Ian Binns.

Capturing the band’s spiky brand of post-punk girl-pop, their sole output was a four-track 12″ EP on Nardonik label, produced by Jamie Watson following demos recorded by Angus McPake and Douglas Hart.

Sharing equipment and rehearsal space with Jesse Garon and The Desperados, Rote Kapelle and other regulars at the Onion Cellar club, The Vultures ended up supporting My Bloody Valentine. Torn between the pressures of impending art school degree shows and life in the back of a transit van, they called it a day not long afterwards. Nicoll is now an artist of note.

Here’s the song included within the boxset:-

mp3: The Vultures – Good Thing

It dates from 1988.  It’s less than two minutes long and is absolutely bursting with energy.  It wouldn’t have sounded too out of place a few years later when the Riot Grrrl ‘movement’ became a thing….but as can be seen from the bio above, everyone had moved on.

Oh, and I was so taken by again hearing the track when preparing this posting that I’ve gone and ordered a second-hand copy of the EP via Discogs.  I’ll share them with you sometime in the next few days.

JC