The mainstream validity of Scottish hip hop has increased dramatically in recent years. There has been a push from a section of artists to find a distinct voice, a voice which has resulted in an upsurge of confidence in the form, and with that, increased experimentation and variety. There is a close-knit and collaborative community - which is infinitely more diverse and welcoming than the indie-pop fraternity - that bubbles under the surface, bursting forth in fits of big hugs and shout outs. Tonight two of its most talented groups - Hector Bizerk and Stanley Odd - shared a stage in an evening which could be one of the highlights of an already very exciting West End Festival. Earlier in the year, we reported how the Festival wanted to break free of the bonds of its location and be a truly outward-looking experience. This was an evening of excitement and inclusion on a grand scale.
It’s testament to the hype surrounding both of these bands at the moment that they managed to pack out the sweaty wee underground club at ex-church and Alasdair Gray monument, Òran Mór. Beginning the evening promptly - so promptly that (full disclosure) GOG missed the first five minutes of their set - were local boys Girobabies to warm up the crowd. Growing a dedicated fanbase over the past couple of years, they take an admirably shambolic DIY approach which lends their songs that much more honesty. Stylistically the odd ones out in the evening, they performed a slightly curtailed set to an appreciative audience. Taking the Mark E. Smith route of speak-singing over rock music, they’re maybe a bit too self-aware: the shock value of songs like “Jeremy Kyle Fucked My Wife” wears a little thin after you realise there’s no punchline to the joke. A definite highlight for the band was playing anti-hipster anthem and crowd favourite “Overheard in the Westend” in, indeed, the West End. The song was suitably emphasised by the singer Marc McG putting on a pair of thick-rimmed glasses while recounting ridiculous westendisms (Choice line: ‘You can’t fully comprehend an oil spillage until you’ve watched it on a high definition television set”). Genuinely amusing. The band finished their set by teaming up with local MCs to freestyle verses over a very loose interpretation of M.O.P’s song Ante Up. Except with the chorus changed to “Daily Mail: fuck that shit”. They take broad targets, this band. And in that lack of pretense lies their appeal.
This collaboration served as a very effective link between the Girobabies’ affable rock and the more concentrated hip hop of the next two bands. Stanley Odd might have been on last but the most raucous reception of the evening was for Hector Bizerk. Expanding to a four-piece in this live setting with added members on keys and bass, the added vibrancy complemented and expanded the fairly minimal sounds of most recent LP, ‘Drums. Rap. Yes’. Bizerk added to the chant-a-longs from their first record with live previews of some forthcoming material from their second full release, due in September. This material was strong, showing great development in songwriting and more adventurous musicianship: the Fleetwood Mac quoting beat of ‘Orchestrate’ and the prominent retro-futurist keyboards of ‘Welcome to Nowhere’ were particular oral highlights.
Visually, the band is impressive. Dressed in a plain jumper and trackies, MC Louie arrived onstage brandishing the now emblematic Hector Bizerk flag, although it was his charisma and energy that seemed to draw the attention of the crowd. There’s a real sense of camaraderie between band an audience: an unironic connection. As Scottish indie rock disappears up its own sad-beautiful arse and ‘folk’ music becomes ever more exclusive and naval-gazing, Bizerk dismantle this once oxymoronic label of ‘Scottish hip hop’ and present this as the only genre where band and audience are on equal footing, a musical socialism. ‘For the Record’ serves equally as a deconstruction of hip hop and as a manifesto of anti-bling. Bizerk are chroniclers, narrators and makars. An inspirational beacon of economic non-ambition and the redemptive power of the art form.
It might not be entirely true. But it’s a great hypothesis with which to spend a night.
Heading the bill and rounding off the night’s narrative were Stanley Odd, fresh from being one of the few genuinely interesting bands shortlisted for the Scottish Album of the Year Awards. Theirs is a lush sound, fully developed with an expensive sheen which is on a different page from Bizerk’s more austere sonics. This is despite the fact that both bands belong to that annoying trend where they name their group after an imaginary person. But make no mistake: this isn’t a rapper with a backing band. They are a full 6-piece group functioning seemingly as a whole, and the bearded lad on keyboards was visibly having the time of his life. The band spend the first half of the set running through - in order - the majority of this latest LP, ‘Reject’. Their lyrical content is far more on the nose than Hector Bizerk but, with their whole ethos being to engage debate and fight apathy, you’ve got to admire that.
There is also a strange dissonant pleasure to hear name-checks of both Nas and Nick Clegg within mere minutes. It’s bridging, it’s a call to arms but it’s never cloying or patronising and always, always with damn good tunes.
The band’s central contrast of singers works well in a live setting. Solareye’s Airdrie-accented, staccato rhymes are juxtaposed with Veronika Electronika’s melismatic, more mid-Atlantic choruses which are more improvisational than on the record. The performance as a whole is, understandably, jubilant and celebratory: even on the more solemn songs rarely do any of the faces of the band stray from a smile.
If there were any barriers left between Odd and the beer-garden fatigued Saturday crowd then they were roundly demolished by an incredibly inclusive performance of ‘Get Out Ma Headspace’ - rarely has an artist initiated crowd-chant felt less forced and more an expression of joy. I am certain that everyone in that basement came out of that concert with a smile as big as the one on MC Solareye’s lovely face.
Both Bizerk and Odd are bands already huge in an equally burgeoning scene: the amount of lips in the crowd syncing along to the tracks was a testament to this. You really owe it to yourself to see one - or, better, both - of them as soon as you can.
Hektor Bizerk have gigs planned in Aberdeen and at T in the Park. Their new album is due to be released in ‘September’.
Stanley Odd are currently recording a new album but are next due to play in Scotland at the Queen’s Hall in Edinburgh on the 4th of August with the Electric String Orchestra.
Girobabies next play Nice N’ Sleazy on the 14th of June supporting more local hip hop from Mog and Loki.
