A new venue tonight, The Mousetrap at 180 Leith Walk, for a “Grrrrl crush” gang night with IDestroy. Tonight was listed on their page as “Fuck Valentine’s Day. Fuck Hallmark. Fuck Trump. Fuck being told what to do”.
First up tonight we have local solo acoustic artist Ailsa and the Seahorses who, in her own words, plays “Dreamy chilled-out shite”. I love a bit of acoustic and young Ailsa does not disappoint with a nice, short, mellow set. She has a lovely, haunting voice, well-suited for the tracks she played tonight. If you fancy a wee listen, she has some nice pieces on Soundcloud with the likes of “Train Hopping”, “Tragic Magic” and my favourite: a demo called “Put a Flounder Under Your Pillow”.
Another local band up next in the form of Agony Ant. They are listed on their Facebook page as a four piece but they are playing a nice rocky set as a three piece tonight. We get an electric-punk-meets-indie good rock vibe sound with interesting songs titles such as “Bread” and “No Mates”. They have a nice, fresh sound for a young band and I think we will hear more from these girls. Theirs was another short but enjoyable set. Check out their page which has a link to some videos on You Tube including the interesting “Fuckboy” and “Bad Blood” tracks.
Onto the headliners from Bristol, IDestroy, who are still touring on the back of their first four track EP, Vanity Loves Me. We first heard them live at Bannermans last year and I have to say the EP is still on my Spotify playlist; it’s that good. The band consist of Becky (bassist with IDestroy, Triaxis & Dorja), Bec (vocals/guitar with both IDestroy and The Blue Aeroplanes) and Jenn on drums. As well as the whole EP played tonight we get a similar setlist to the Bannermans gig last year with a taste of new songs hopefully destined for future release.
The band set the amps to eleven with “Pins and Needles” and don’t let up with Jenn pounding away in the rear, Becky’s swagger on the bass and Bec nailing it with a vocal swagger of her own. This is a band on fire tonight and the packed Mousetrap are loving it with the crowd well up for it down the front; bouncing all over the place.
The first track off the still-current EP, “Vanity Loves Me”, goes down a storm with the crowd as do the other three tracks from the EP. “State of the Art” is actually my track of the evening and quite rightly so with its hook-laden lyrics and music. The band tear The Mousetrap a new entrance as they rock out with bass and guitar flying everywhere, playing in one of the tightest spaces I’ve ever seen – inches from the crowd and punters passing for the toilets stage left and right.
I said last year that the girls play for keeps with hooks and an attitude to boot, and that is still very much true tonight, ending an all too short set with “Oceans”.
They rocked, they rolled and they destroyed the venue tonight. I cannot stress enough about getting the EP and catching them live, simply one of the best bands out there – complete with a bassist of the year in Becky Baldwin.
Setlist:
- Pins and Needles
- Shameful Pride
- Vanity Loves Me
- 98%
- Claustrophobic
- IDestroy
- Annie
- Talking Shit
- Saw a Sign
- State of the Art
- Oceans
The Mousetrap is an interesting venue, with not so much a stage as a rolled out mat for the drum set at the back of the bar. As a photographer, the lighting tonight was a struggle – as in there was almost none and they dimmed what lighting they did have. If I come back again for another gig, and I hope I do, please make the band area a bit brighter!
Described as a “Banging Dive Bar & Cheese Grill on Leith Walk”; live DJs, acoustic open mic, arcade games, pinball machines and a nice Donkey Kong scheme are all going on with an eclectic mix of people. I liked the place and would drink here on and off with its slightly American quirky craft pub feel to it. Very friendly bar staff and reasonable bar prices with a nice selection on offer.
Photos by Gary Cooper.
IDestroy: official | facebook | twitter | instagram | soundcloud | youtube | bigcartel
Ailsa and the Seahorses: facebook | soundcloud
