Endor - Live at Brew at the Bog (05/05/12)

Track Listing

1. Little Researcher
2. Chapel Doors
3. Seek Cover

Link Removed By Request

Belladrum 2011 - Review

Until just recently I had decided that I was now too old to go to music festivals, the thought of waking up in a tent just really didn't appeal to me anymore. In short I was starting to think along the same lines as this grumpy old sod. However, when Randolph's Leap offered me one of their 'plus ones' for this years Wickerman Festival, I found myself changing my mind somewhat. I used to be the kind of person who looked to see who the headliners would be, this time round though I found myself looking at the smaller, emerging stages and getting excited. After deciding I'd go to my first Wickerman, I ended up getting the festival bug again. I had fully intended to write a review of my weekend at Wickerman, however, in the words of Vicki from Randolph's Leap, I was 'muntered' the whole weekend. So I decided against trying to recall my drunken antics and chose instead to write a more sensible review of my time at Belladrum.

Unlike the last time I visited Bella, 5 years ago, me and Nic managed to blag a bed at my folks, who also picked us up and took on baby sitting duties for the weekend. So there was no slumming it in tents or being woken up by drunken Highland neds. We did however, have the joys of dealing with a screaming baby at 7 in the morning, which trust me is not much fun. Anyway, that's enough of my self indulgent ramblings, on with my shambolic attempt at reviewing...

PAWS for thought...

We deliberately made sure we arrived on the site nice and early to catch two of the noisiest and most entertaining live bands in Scotland at the moment, PAWS and Bronto Skylift.
It was the aforementioned PAWS that kicked the day off with a blistering set in the goNorth Seedlings Stage. The local three piece blast their way through a rip roaring set, which concludes with lead singer Phil Taylor setting up his mike in the middle of the crowd, leaving us in a wall of feedback. We quickly make a sharp exit to head down to catch Bronto to see if they are up to the job of matching that performance...

Bronto Sklyfit, yer gran would love 'em

Having seen Bronto a fair few times in the past twelve months, they rarely fail to impress. I'll admit that I don't find myself listening to their album all that much, only if I have had a really shitty day at work. However, every time I see them they impress the fuck out of me, they may well only be a two piece, but boy do they make one hell of an enjoyable racket. The only problem sometimes is knowing who to watch. One minute I am being hypnotised by their drummer Iain's stick wielding wonders, then the next thing I know Niall is down in the crowd hurling his guitar back onto the stage. It's noisy, it's brutal and fuck me it's great to watch.

so that's what happened to Herbie

After Bronto finish we find ourselves at a bit a loose end for a few hours, so we go for a bit of a wander round the site and also to find out what joys the press area has in store for us. In the end it turned out that it really had two main functions, one it was a good place to meet up with folk we knew and even more importantly there was a portaloo that didn't have a queue. Which might not seem like much, but it was great for the odd piss-stop.

Similarly to Wickerman, Belladrum is very much a family friendly festival; T in the Park this is not. At what other festivals would you find a Beetle covered in moss, or pianos scattered amongst the woods, that and the food is great. Over the weekend we gorged ourselves on things like Crepes, Chicken Risotto and even some Cullen Skink, that being said we still succumbed to the ways of the burger.

How Now Highland Cow

We also managed to hook up with my Highland partner in crime, Jamie from NetSounds, who was over manning the goNorth RockHopper mobile recording studio. The goNorth area proves to be the ideal place for us to chill out over the weekend, as it has seats and nice folk to hang out with. Theyalso had a whole host of live bands playing sessions for them and I guess you all know how much I love my sessions.

Later in the afternoon we headed down to see The Xcerts, in the past I have always thought that they might have been the kind of band I would love if I was 18. Being 33, they just make me feel very fucking old, however, the kids seem to go bat shit crazy for them. At the end my wife asks where abouts in Ireland they're from and why were they trying to sound American. Our friend Weaver soon informs us that they're actually from Aberdeen, fucking kids these days...

Talking of stuff that makes me feel old, we head up to catch some of Lightguides, a band that we had on the bill at our 'bloggers night' gig at goNorth. Again, I remain unconvinced by their pop-punk tunes, but I think it would be safe to say that The Pop Cop would have fucking loved it.

Where's Wally?

It's safe to say that my love of the Phantom Band isn't much of a secret, their last two albums have been my albums of 2009 & 2010, plus I have seen them too many times to recall. However, I did feel that there performance was a little bit flat, although I did speak to several other folk who thought they were amazing, each to their own I guess.

Louis Abbot and his Grizzly Adams-esq beard

Admiral Fallow on the other hand were on top form, they genuinely seemed pretty shocked at the number of folk that had turned up to see them, as they recalled that they'd played to virtually nobody the year before. Over the years I have seen a fair number of 'my wee bands', moving onto much bigger things, after the reaction that they got at Bella it looks like Admiral Fallow might the next Scottish band to join the ranks of bands such as Snow Patrol and Frightened Rabbit.

Highland folk going bat shit crazy for Admiral Fallow

After Admiral Fallow we found ourselves with a few hours to spare as there wasn't much else that we wanted to see. We ended up blagging our way into the backstage area, where we got to witness how the other half live, basically there was no queue at the bar and they have nice toilets. We also got to stand and watch as Texas warmed up to go on stage, turns out that Sharleen Spiteri does look like an SS Officer in real life... who knew. On our way back out we bumped into Niall from Bronto and Phil from PAWS, who had just been kicked out of the catering tent for starting a food fight, which seemed to involve flowers. That's modern rock 'n roll for you then!

wherever god shines his light...

To finish our Friday night off we made our way back up to the goNorth Seedlings stage for Kid Canaveral's headline set. As they open with 'Her Hair Hangs Down, drummer Scott joins the band at the front of the stage on guitar, and the tent is surprisingly pretty quiet. However, by the end of the song I was pleasantly surprised to find that the place was pretty damn packed, and 'no' it wasn't raining either. What follows is 30 minutes of pure unadulterated pop pleasure, as the band race through the highlights of their album 'Shouting At Wildlife', including my favourite song of last year 'And Another Thing!!' and their cracking wee cover of King Creosote's 'Missionary'. I might well have been knackered from being on my feet all day, but I still managed to pull off some rather dodgy dance moves, much to the embarrassment of Mrs Peenko.

For me personally, Kid Canaveral were the perfect way to end a really fun day. The Saturday at Bella now had a lot to live up to...

Jarv our beautiful butterfly

After a night in bed and a shower in the morning, we arrive rather early on site feeling suitably refreshed. We had deliberately made sure that we had gotten there pretty promptly as those crazy Detour kids had planned one of their now legendary 'Wee Jaunts'. Sadly we arrive to find out that they've had to cancel as Rachel Sermanni had gone home, Tommy Reilly didn't have a guitar and a whole load of other bands had plain old disappeared. We were however treated to an impromptu version of 'Without The Help of Sparks' from Jarv from Endor, which was rather ace.

The Folk Venga Boys

I always forget just how much I like Woodenbox, but it's always nice to be reminded. Their album 'Home & the Wildhunt' is cracking wee record, but in a live context the songs take on much more life, any fears of today finding us falling prey to a day one hangover are soon shook off by a barn storming set. Not only do all of the band look like they're having the time of their lives, but they're also tight as fuck with great tunes, so it's no real surprise that they get the crowd going wth their country-tinged pop.

Boycotts made me feel old, very fucking old..

Later in the afternoon we found ourselves back at the Seedlings Stage to catch the female fronted four piece, Boycotts. Having bought their debut EP a while back, I am still pretty undecided about whether I like Boycotts, I can see that there's potential there, but they're not quite there yet. That being said, their closing song Press Play is a cracking wee pop song. I'll defo be keeping my eyes and ears peeled for future releases.

We Were Promised Jetpacks felt like an odd choice as a main stage band, there was definitely a hardcore element of fans there to see them, however, the rest of the crow didn't seem too fussed about them. In true Jetpack fashion they don't appear to give two shits as they treat us to a number of songs from their forthcoming second album. Unfortunately, just as the band start to hit their stride we have to leave as we wanted to catch Endor at the Seedlings Stage. I will however, make sure that I catch them when they play Glasgow towards the end of the year (details of this gig should be announced very shortly).

Endor can't afford drums

I hate admitting that other folk are right, but fuck it, I have to hold my hands up to The Pop Cop, Endor are fucking great. There I have said it. At Wickerman two weeks prior they were one of the finest live bands I saw all weekend and at Belladrum it was more of the same and then some. Their self titled album was one of the most under-rated albums of 2010, however, with performances like this they're not going to stay a secret for much longer.

Love this band...

Love 'em!

Child's Play...

Hoe Doon

Later on in the afternoon we catch Woodenbox playing an uplugged set outside the goNorth RockHopper and fuck me it's good. Once again I found myself dancing, badly.
If my shitty memory serves me right, I do remember myself and Jamie from NetSounds having a male bonding moment about how much we love their album. Thankfully nobody overhears quite how gushing we get, perhaps I shouldn't have mentioned that part...

Man Love

When it comes to great indie pop bands, Scotland really does have more than it's fair share. Aerials Up are another band who fall into this category. They've got great tunes and they certainly got the Seedlings Stage shaking their hips with their energetic pop tunes. With songs like 'Stay Awake' and 'All Your Mothers Daughters', they're undoubtedly going to establish themselves as ones to watch in the Scottish music scene.

Owner of a lonely heart

So as the day starts to draw to an end we catch bits of Be Like Pablo, who remind me a lot of Weezer. Then we made our way down to see Deacon Blue, who I must admit I was quite looking forward to, as they were on of the first bands I listened to when I was just a nipper. I don't know if it was my dislike of big crowds or just general boredom, however, I soon find myself abandoning my wife in favour of another former hero, Roddy Woomble performing in his folk singer guise. As good as he was, I wasn't overly wowed as I have seen him far too many times over the years, so his performance almost felt formulaic.
As the heavens opened and a months worth of rain descends upon the Belladrum site I regret my decision at leaving Deacon Blue, as I meet with a very soaked Mrs Peenko who was raving about how great Ricky Ross & Co. had been.
With the majority of campers returning to find their tents flooded, I was extremely grateful for a lift back home to my folks.

All in all, Belladrum was great weekend, great music, great food, some quality banter and one of the most ned-free festivals Scotland has to offer, just don't fucking camp at it.

A Massive Thank You Goes Out To Mrs Peenko For Taking All Of The Pictures For Me And For Babysitting Me For The Weekend xxx

Gigs, News and Sunday night blues

I am going to start this post by apologising to anyone who might be waiting for a reply email from me. Normally I am pretty on top of my inbox, but this weekend I have succumbed to the dreaded man flu, so much of today has been spent lying on the couch feeling sorry for myself. It's pretty safe t say that today hasn't been the best of days. Thanks to me overdosing on Lemsip I have 'manned up' and will stop moaning so I can get this post done. I did say recently that there would be some random gig/new posts cropping up every so often, so being true to my word here's some news and a few good gigs coming your way over the next month or so...


First up we have a wee shindig being put on at the Captains Rest at the end of the month featuring the pop-tastic Endor, Olive Grove's very own Randolph's Leap & Esperi, plus Amber Wilson, who I have heard a lot of good things about but have yet to see her live. The gig is being put on as a VS night by Pelmet Nights and Gathering Whispers, if past performances are anything to go by this should be a great evening.

If you're in a band and you're thinking about applying to play at this years goNorth Festival and you haven't already done so, then you best get your finger out as submissions close at the end of this week. I know I have raved about this event before, but it really was great fun for me last year, I learned a lot, drank far too much and I even got to meet Mimi from Shameless. By meet I of course mean 'saw', as she was signing autographs in Poundland, classy as fuck.



Promoters, No Dancing are continuing to step away from the norm and bring together an array of amazing bands that you wouldn't normally see on the same bill. Last time round they had Bronto Skylift and Withered Hand. This time round they've brought together Peenko favourites The Scottish Enlightenment, Miaoux Miaoux and Male Pattern Band for a cracking evening of music. It takes place on Saturday 9th of April at The Admiral Bar and it's only £5, bargain.

It's been a while since I mentioned Pin Up Nights, so I thought it was about time that I gave the night a wee plug. This coming Friday they've lined up some stellar bands in Milk, Sonic Hearts Foundation and Galleries, plus there will be all the usual shenanigans that makes the night so much fun. Find out more over on their homepage, also if you've got a minute check out their fanzine which is always a pretty good read.


The fabulous Washington Irving make a welcome return next month with the release of their new single 'Abbey Gallop'. Out on the 25th of April, the band are heading off on a massive UK tour to support the release of the single, this includes a number of Scottish dates this April:

2nd Edinburgh - Sneaky Petes
5th Glasgow - Captains Rest
6th Dundee - Dexters
7th Aberdeen - Snafu
8th Stornoway - Jager Rooms
9th Inverness - Coel Mor
10th Aviemore - Old Bridge Inn
26th Glasgow - Love Music in store
28th Communion Glasgow Launch @ Stereo

You can stream a live version of the B-side to the single, French Leave below.

French Leave - Live session on Radio 1 by Washington Irving

Continuing on from Fridays video post, the awesome Detour boys have continued to post up their video diaries, make sure you check out this wee video of Withered Hand, Kid Canaveral, Errors, Twin Atlantic, Admiral Fallow and The Twilight Sad. They also made this mind blowingly good video that I'd urge to check out...

Edinburgh outfit, Scrap Brain who caused a bit of a controversy a few months back when they aired their opinions on the 'anti-folk' scene in their home town. There's nothing like a good bit of contention to get yourself noticed, so with the grunge-punk trio set to release their debut single, ‘Nal’, at a launch gig on Friday 8th April it's going to be pretty interesting to see what kind of reception they get. The gig takes place at Maggies Chamber, with support from the much lauded Lady North, Jump: Press A and Art of Privilege.
The single was recorded at Verden Studios and is being promoted by New Found Sound as part of the band’s development deal awarded to them for being judged the best band of the 2010 ‘Friday Night Live at Frankenstein’s’ competition. Tickets for the gig are available in advance for £3 from TicketWeb or from Scrap Brain, and will be available on the door for £5. Doors for the gig open at 7:30pm. I wonder how many folkies will make it along...

Lastly, a small group of undergraduate students from Heriot-Watt’s Scottish Borders Campus are organising a music event in Edinburgh to raise money for MS Society Scotland.

The band night entitled ‘Gig for MS’ will showcase three up-and-coming Scottish bands from both the Edinburgh and Glasgow music scene: ‘My Tiny Robots’, ‘Ghost Ride the Whip’ and ‘Chris Hunter’, with a DJ playing until late. The night will be held at Edinburgh’s ‘Electric Circus’ located at 36 Market Street - on Wednesday the 6th of April 2011. Doors will open at 7.30pm with tickets being sold on the door at £5 each. All proceeds will be donated to MS Society Scotland. Further details can be found here.

Scots Way-Hay - The Artists Album of the Year (Part 3)

When I sent emails out to all of this years Scots Way-Hay artists I honestly only expected to get a handful of replies back. How wrong I was, it turned out that most bands were pretty keen to let you all know what's been tickling their fancy in 2010. So in the last of my series of posts I give you the favourite albums of 2010 for Ardentjohn, Endor, French Wives, Lorraine McCauley and Over the Wall.....

Blud Rins Cauld by John Knox Sex Club

chosen by Gav, Over the Wall

"My album of the year is Blud Rins Cauld by John Knox Sex Club. Parts of this album sounds like a group of guys starting a riot, which is very much the sense you get when you see them play live, but the best thing for me is that there's a lyrical depth here absent from most Scottish bands about. No actually, absent from the vast majority of contemporary music. You get the sense of really big classic themes running through an album that also has time to talk about juvenile delinquency in a particularly Scottish way. There's also a burgeoning violence to the music, even when they're in the middle of one of their very tender moments, that's really compelling. I've been playing it constantly since I got it at Insider Festival (where they played the set of the weekend in my opinion) and I think when I look back on the last year later in life this will be a big part of the soundtrack"

Boots Met My Face by Admiral Fallow

chosen by all of French Wives

"Our album of the year is unequivocally Admiral Fallow's debut 'Boots Met My Face.' It is an album which has garnered near universal praise, and such praise is completely deserved. It is extremely rare in pop (to use a slightly catch all term) bands for each and every member to have quite such a high degree of general musicianship. Indeed, in many of the rare instances where this is the case such musicianship is often thrust in the face, or ears, of the listener. However, this is not apparent on this record. The bands musical skill is perfectly apparent throughout, however despite the vast instrumentation at no point do any of the parts feel self indulgent or unnecessary. Melodically and structurally the songs are so meticulously constructed that the arrangements sound like the best possible version of the original song. Add to this the interesting lyrical content and it makes it extremely difficult to watch or listen to this band without being completely in awe"

Hunting My Dress by Jesca Hoop

chosen by Lorraine McCauley

"I watched Jesca perform at a music festival last year and just loved her quirky song style and beautiful lyrics. She has an amazing imagination and creates new places and ideas to explore in each song. Favorite track, though its hard to choose, is The Kingdom and the video for it is great too.......check it out"

High Violet by The National

chosen by David McGinty, Endor

"The most commercially successful album to date by a band who spent years in the relative wilderness is often seen as one of two things: a crossover or a breakthrough, The National’s High Violet is certainly the latter. Whilst the band’s crossover potential is evident on this release, and comparisons could be drawn to the early albums of stadium fillers like R.E.M, this record is evolutionary not revolutionary. Its breakthrough into the mainstream charts follows the critical acclaim surrounding four previous records and years of slugging it out on the road, yet in 2010 it seemed The National proved they could no longer be ignored. Over the course of their last few releases the band have been honing a sound, primarily based around true craftsmanship in terms of their songwriting. Sure, since Boxer there’s less shouting, and knee-jerk purists have been arguing whether or not that record is better than it’s predecessor, Alligator, since 2007; the fact of the matter is that High Violet is the latest instalment in the evolution of a band which has be lauded by critics, and rightly so, since their debut almost a decade ago. Not only is High Violet the most evolved National record, and debatably the finest example of their ability as songwriters and musicians, it’s got to be one of the best albums of 2010"

The Courage of Others, by Midlake

chosen by Seth, Ardentjohn

"It is a beautiful album and, after Trials of Van Occupanther, it was always going to be hard to top it.

The band chose a different genre for the album (which in itself is difficult) and this gave it, instantly, a different vibe from their previous but their harmonies are always to die for and the old english feel of the album is wonderful.. They seem to put their mark over anything they try.

A beautiful album which gets better with every listen: a bit like their last one, but not the same at all. Wonderful"

Scots Way-Hay #38 - Endor

I have spent the past hour trying to write this introduction piece, I stupidly decided that it would be easy enough to come up with something half way decent (i.e. passable) whilst also trying to entertain a screaming baby. Not that I imagine that the blurb that I write at the start of this feature matters to you all that much, I am sure you don't come on here expecting to read anything anywhere near sensible from me. In case you hadn't already worked it out, you're probably best to skip my ramblings and go straight to the band answers.
Seeing as I am trying to pass myself off as some sort of music writer, I guess I had better try and introduce this weeks featured band, Endor.
I imagine that a lot of folk out there who follow the Scottish music scene will already know the name. Until fairly recently that's all they were to me, a band whose name popped up on the bill of some pretty decent gigs. For one reason or another they never crossed my path, upon reflection this seems pretty ironic to me, as firstly, they take their name from one of my all time favourite films and secondly, they write cracking catchy indie-folk pop tunes.
It wasn't until I picked up their eponymous debut album on a bit of a whim at the start of August that I fully realised what I had been missing out on. My excuse is that it came out on the exact same day as the Kid Canaveral album, so it almost passed me by. I do love the irony that we had two Scottish indie pop bands releasing long overdue debut albums on the exact same day though.
Anyway, that's enough ramblings from me for one week, Mrs Peenko needs rescued from a crying baby, so here's the lovely Jarv to tell you a bit more about the band...



Would you care to introduce yourself?

Hi we're a band from Glasgow called Endor. There are 5 of us.


How would you describe the music you make?

This is going to sound so pretentious and lame but we've always called it Thinkpop. We've been told it's pop in the same vein as Teenage Fanclub or Orange Juice.


How did you come together as a band?

We all met at high school. Calum and I have been friends since we were little as have Rich and Mark. Then a few years ago I met Andy at work and he begged to get into the band but we made him suffer until he couldn't take it anymore then we put him out of his misery earlier this year after recording the album. I don't know if he regrets it now though, you'd have to ask him.


How did you start out making music?

Originally we got together over our love of Weezer and bands like Belle and Sebastian, and Idlewild. Our first ever show at a friends house party was a set of 8 Weezer songs and Big Me by Foo Fighters all played at triple speed cause we were nervous! After a while we started writing our own songs and put out some singles on Say Dirty Records, then recorded and released our first record this year.


What process goes into the way you write songs?

Rich and I spent the last year and half living together and writing a lot of songs specifically for the album. Normally Rich or I will have some music or an idea for a sound or something then we'll work on it together before I write lyrics. For quite a few songs Rich had the whole thing down with a melody of him singing lyrics to another song or just mumbled words then all I had to do was write lyrics and restructure things slightly to fit. We recorded rough demos of everything and actually had the tracklisting sorted in order to get an idea of a flow for the album before going into the studio. We spent a long time talking about how we wanted the album to sound and how it should run from beginning to end. Basically it just me and Rich playing instruments at each other and rambling about stuff we like, then we play it for the guys and they either get it and start playing or look at us like we're playing Jean Michel Jarre crossed with The Cheeky Girls. Which sometimes we might as well be.

Who are your big musical influences?

I guess the major influences for this album were bands we've been listening to for years cause we wanted it to sound like a first album even though we've been together for a while, so the really obvious stuff like The Beatles, Paul Simon, Teenage Fanclub, B&S etc. Also definitely Weezer, Flaming Lips and a bit of Fleetwood Mac thrown in for good measure.


What kind of influence do you feel that where you come from has had on the music you create?

Quite a lot, but mostly in the sense that we've been playing in Glasgow and going to shows here all our lives. So when people compare us to bands like FR or WWPJ I always think that's obviously going to be in there cause we've been around each other so much, that type of sound is going to move as if by osmosis between us. That's also the case with bands like The State Broadcasters, we kidnapped their trombone and accordian players because we just wanted their sound so badly! We didn't get to keep them though. :(


What can people expect to see/hear from your live shows?


Some songs with some quiet bits which people talk over, some loud bits which people can't talk over, and hopefully some really quiet bits that people rarely try to talk over.


Has there been a particular gig that has stood out for you so far (good or bad)?

Over the years there's been some great gigs and loads of awful gigs. The one that's sticks in the memory now though was our album launch with Over the Wall and Washington Irving. We played the whole record in order and had all our guest horn players, singers, and accordian maestro for the one night only sort of thing. It was amazing! We were ok, but to have that kind of backup on stage just lifts everything above what we could ever achieve on our own.


What are your plans for the rest of the year and beyond? Do you have any new releases planned for any time soon?

We've got some stuff coming up that we can't quite confirm yet. But there's some really fun shows coming up and we're talking about the next record and sorting ourselves out to start writing again.


Lastly, who shot first Han or Greedo?

Han. Always.

Endor - Chapel Doors

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Endor's self titled debut album is available to buy now, it's a cracking wee album filled with little pop gems, a perfect remedy to those cold dark winter nights that are fast approaching. On Friday the 29th of October they are playing at Pin Up Nights Halloween Party alongside The Social Services and PopUp.

The Peenko Show on Fresh Air - Episode #2 (11/08/10)

This was the second show that I did for Fresh Air, joining me that week I had Boab from Campfires in Winter in to co-host/try and keep me in check. Not sure if he fully managed it or not though! On the plus side we did get to play loads of great music, including two exclusives (at that time) from Come On Gang! and the mysterious Let's Talk About Trees. The banter may well be pish, but the tunes are top notch!

Tracks Played

1. Come On Gang! - Fortune Favours The Brave
2. Call To Mind - All The Happiness In My Mind
3. Campfires in Winter - It's Been Months Now
4. Department of Eagles - Brightest Minds
5. King Post Kitsch - Walking On Eggshells
6. Golden Oldie; Baby Chaos - Hello
7. The Seventeenth Century - Roses in the Park
8. Washington Irving - Islands
9. Let's Talk About Trees - Lumberjacks Lament
10. Frightened Rabbit - Son C
11. Yahweh - Make Me Stop
12. Errors - A Rumour In Africa
13. The Social Services - The Baltic Sea
14. Spaghetti Anywhere - Girlfriends With Boyfriends
15. Endor - Without The Help Of Sparks
16. Admiral Fallow - Squealing Pigs

The Peenko Show On Fresh Air - Episode #2 (11/08/10) by Peenko on Mixcloud

Fresh Air