Introducing...

(Morning Star, Saturday 03 September 2005)

IN PROFILE: Trashcan Sinatras

IT APPEARS as if the tide has turned for the regions in Britain.

No more does the average newsreader, presenter or radio personality have to use the clipped tones of RP - meaning that, on the one hand, we have to put up with the annoyance of Lynda Barker and Vernon Kaye polluting the airwaves but also that bands from the provinces get to truly unmask themselves in all their glory, to commit to their territorial vagaries and make their stamp their own way.

For all of which evolution the Trashcan Sinatras must be thankful, as their innate Scottishness makes this Glasgow quintet one of the most engaging, genuine bands around.

In their voices, in their inventiveness and in their hearts, they carry the love of Caledonia around the world with them - and, specifically, as with new album Fez, to New York.

Fez is made up of songs from previous albums, all recorded over two nights last December in the Fez Club while on an acoustic tour of the US.

The songs that were originally electric have not lost anything - quite the opposite.

The gentle acoustic sound gives the Trashcans a warmer, more intense feel and seems somehow imbibed with the very spirit of Christmas.

Sublime representations of tracks like Weightlifting and Got Carried Away show a band who have grown comfortable with their sound over more than a decade performing together.

This richness of experience and their gently winsome nature combine to make a live album for everyone, full to bursting with Scottish sparkle and guilelessness.