A Torn Mind, Keser, and North Atlantic Oscillation

Made it to Sneaky Pete's a while ago to have a look at a three band line-up of Scottish prog-rock favorites. A Torn Mind opened to a receptive crowd with noise and snarling singing so prominent in some of Edinburgh's prog bands. Impressive guitar play didn't completely sell me, but the band rocked for a solid set, eventually making way for Keser who were, simply put, absolutely fantastic. 

Think Fuck Buttons style noise, but created with guitars and peddles and just a pre-recorded drum beat. While the rhythms often led to a repetitiveness that may get a little stale, songs stretched on four about six minutes and I couldn't help but bob my head. It was great rhythm, and the distorted guitar sound was absolutely fantastic. A+ would see again.

The final act of the night for me was North Atlantic Oscillation. I saw them a couple of months ago at Stag & Dagger festival when I didn't yet know them. They sounded good, but a bit boring. I listened to their album in the meantime and really enjoyed it. It's good prog and a bit of a turned down version of Bear in Heaven. But while Bear in Heaven deliver the goods live, N.A.O. still didn't intrigue. It was too nit-picky, they seemed to care too much about sounding right, sacrificing quite a bit of the punch that they have on their record. If they can manage to translate their recorded sound onto a stage, then this is will be a band well worth going to see. Right now, I would recommend spinning their album a couple more times.

Sneaky Pete's went on to put on Babeshadow after that, but the Fringe had started taking it's toll on me that night, so I ended up going to bed and missing them.