Bring 'Em In, Mean Street & Viva City

Viva City played at The Cluny 2 on Saturday night, to promote their new single 'Have You Ever Felt So Messed Up' which is out now! I watched the show from the balcony which meant I had a good view of the crowd too who looked like they were having a lot of fun! Glow sticks were being thrown all over the place as were bodies of people trying to bounce around as much as was humanly possible. The set was pretty much perfect although unfortunately didn't include favourites 'Kate Bush' and 'Pretty City Life', both of which I've only ever seen them play once but apart from that the choice of songs wasn't bad at all. Anyway, overall it was a great show and a top crowd, most of which were 14 year olds who were clearly overwhelmed that they had been let in.

So as previously blogged, Mando Diao's Mean Street EP is out now and I have given it a twirl and I must say it is a fantastic introduction to the band for many of those who have not yet heard of them. The title track has a strong 60s vibe, which is a constant within new album, Give Me Fire. With jangly pianos and melodies it is a brilliant shout out to the UK. The official video is below.
The EP also included album tracks Give Me Fire and Blue Lining White Trenchcoat, both tracks again different but with a similar wavelength to Mean Street. Again, both brilliant. The closer was Burning Up, a B-Side of the recent European single, Gloria, which I didn't find as strong as the other tracks but enjoyed the experience all the same.

HMV kindly rang me up on Saturday to let me know my import from Sweden had arrived. No, it wasn't Howlin' Pelle Almqvist, but I'm not complaining because I've met him and he was cool. It was my very own copy of Bring 'Em In by Mando Diao. I've just finished listening to it and it was an amazing album, although I still think Hurricane Bar slightly pips the post as to which is my favourite of the two, which isn't bad at all though! Opening track Sheepdog sounds even more fantastic than ever, if that's even possible, but it does! The entire album follows on beautifully from that, through quiet guitar work to the loudest of loudness (well, it's just giving a comparison). Anyway, I enjoyed this album and I'm hoping that I'm just as impressed by Never Seen The Light Of Day and current record Give Me Fire.

That comes to the end for today. Well, almost...