Rocks Off couldn't resist had see what this Glasvegas band was all about for himself, so he headed up to the Mohawk for Rhapsody Music's day party Thursday. After a pleasant set of trippy, drone-y, dub-dusted electronica from School of Seven Belles, the much-discussed Scottish band came out and played a soaring set of beautiful melodies dripping with pain - chief among them opener "Geraldine." The Glaswegians' sound was huge, marked by church organ and swirls of ambient effects that swaddled the melancholy music in a soothing shroud. For some reason it inspired Rocks Off to write the phrase "junkies in a cathedral" in his notebook.
If there was one thing working against Glasvegas, it was the weather. It was just too gorgeous - and, for the first time all year, legitimately hot - outside for the songs to achieve maximum impact. Better it had been foggy, cold and raining like last weekend. All the same, Glasvegas deserves most of the accolades they've been racking up - but the lead singer needs to learn that berating the sound guy, especially at SXSW, will get you nowhere.