MEDALSWHO: JP Reid (vocals/guitar), Mari-anne Fraser (guitar/vocals), DavidAird (guitar), Mike Logg (bass/vocals), Fergus Munro (drums/vocals)WHERE: Ayrshire and GlasgowFOR FANS OF: Franz Ferdinand,Bastille, Depeche ModeJIM SAYS: When XFM relaunchedin Scotland back in April, we man-aged to secure an acoustic gig atKing Tut’s with Biffy Clyro.Pretty cool to get the T In The Park

headliners to do a set to celebratethe new station.Support that night came from a

band that was actually playing theirfirst live gig. But booking Medals, atthe request of Biffy, was never goingto be a gamble.They unleashed their debut album

Disguises at the end of last year.Packed full of infectious alt-pop, theirsongs were always going to becrowd pleasers. We weren’t disap-pointed.On record they’re a guitar band

with a tint of electro. The strippedback acoustic set they played thatnight though brought out the beautyof their songs.There is history between Medals

and Biffy Clyro. JP Reid is also onehalf of Marmaduke Duke with Biffy’sSimon Neil. Releasing two albums,they even hit the UK Top 20 in 2009with their single Rubber Lover. Thesecond album, Duke Pandemonium,was also a chart hit.JP is also known for the Ayrshire

band Sucioperro, who have a greatback catalogue.It’s fair to say that Medals are

more akin to the Duke than Sucio,though most of Sucioperro are now

involved. JP said: “Creatively itstarted as a solo project but it’sdeveloping naturally and organicallyand is very much a band now.“The four boys have been friends

together since the early 2000s andhave a history in Sucioperro.”Completing the line-up is Mari-

anne Fraser, who’s from more of afolk background with the band Cher-ryGrove.Medals have certainly got off to a

flying start. Following the XFM show,their first electric gig was on the BBCIntroducing Stage at T In The Park.Since then, they’ve also played

some Scottish dates supportingTwin Atlantic. I asked JP if the soundhas developed since becoming alive band.He said: “Well, currently we’re

looking at relaunching the album atsome point precisely because thesound is becoming that of a bandnow. Everyone is contributing a lot ofpersonality, and naturally we’rebecoming a bit harder edged asthat’s in our bones.”

An indication of their progressionshould be clear when they releasetheir debut EP Dancer, including are-working of the stunning I Used ToBe A Dancer from Disguises.Dancer can be pre-ordered on

iTunes, with the track Sing On TheSame Parade available to downloadnow. While concentration is firmly onMedals at the moment, JP insists it’snot yet the end of Sucioperro or Mar-maduke Duke.He said: “I suppose it’s fair to say

both are currently on a break. I’d defi-nitely like to do some Sucio shows atsome point. I’d say we’re about half-way through The Death Of The Duke(the third part of the MarmadukeDuke trilogy) and will hopefully finishit by early next year when Simon hasa chance to focus.”Medals play King Tut’s in Glasgow

tonight.MORE: facebook.com/medalsmusic

BUCKINGHAMSHIRE boy JackGarratt has a peach of a beard.A proper, big, bushy affair.But he’s got huge skills in thestudio tooHis single Worry is beingchampioned by Radio 1.And no wonder, It’s a cracker— soulful with a nice bit of fizz.Listen to it now atsoundcloud.com/jackgarratt

NEW MUSIC BY JIM GELLATLY

YOU thought it was September —but it’s actually Hectember, withGlasgow hip-hop duo Hector Bizerkputting out their much hyped EPThe Fish That Never Swam.And to launch it, the pair are

doing a show tonight at Edin-burgh’s Mash House and tomorrowat the Art School in Glasgow. Theyput blood, sweat and tears into theirstuff and deserve the success.See facebook.com/hectorbizerk

ONE2SEE

ONE2HEAR

ON

E2W

ATC

HByCHRIS

SWEENEY

YOUNG guns Heyroccowant to give rock ’n’roll a shot in the arm.And what better way,than an old-fashioned popat someone.Frontman Nate Merli took aswipe at Kiss legend Gene Sim-mons. He said: “I read that ridic-ulous article by him this week.“He said rock ’n’ roll is dead.I understand where he’s comingfrom, but it sounded to me likea lot of excuses.“I understand the rules are dif-ferent, the industry is differentand no one buys records any-more. But the idea of being liveon stage with guitar, bass anddrums will be forever.

Big thingsare expected

“We’re continuing that. Hemade it sound like there’s nogood bands now. There aregreat rock bands out there,maybe they’re not on the radioas much as electronic acts — butit doesn’t mean it’s dead.”Big things are expected of theSouth Carolina trio. They allmet in jazz band back in school.And they’ve been forced to dothings the hard way, due to hail-ing from a beach town.Nate, 19, explained: “It startedin the bedroom, then we startedplaying shows in South Caro-lina, it’s grown from a very nat-ural place. Where we come fromis a quiet place.“We’ve got the beach which isbeautiful and art is thriving butin different ways, not in rockmusic. With the water here,coast sounds are popular andreggae is really big.“But we’ve never wanted to dothat. We’ve always been aboutrock ’n’ roll. We represent South

Carolina proudly but it’s not thebiggest music scene. It’s pushedus to go further away andbecause there’s not many bandsfrom here, it gives the peoplesomething to be proud of.“None of the bands I like fromthis area have ever gone over-seas to do shows, so it’s excit-ing. It’s cool as we don’t havemany bands, that’s why they’vebeen so supportive of us.”The group’s debut album Teen-age Movie Soundtrack is all setto go. It will be released here

and in the US in January 2015.Explaining the themes behind it,Nate said: “We make grungepop. There’s a lot of heavytones we took from bands inthe 90s like Nirvana and TheSmashing Pumpkins.“But we put them into a popsong that’s very relatable.“I really just write about loveas it’s the most important thingin everyone’s life and easy tofeel. Our music is very personalbut it’s loud.” They’ll be show-ing off their loudness when they

play their first ever Scots showat Glasgow’s Broadcast on Octo-ber 8.Nate said: “We played a barin Washington DC one time andthe woman who ran it was Scot-tish — she took real good careof us. And she talked veryhighly of Scotland and thecrowds being great, so we’recoming over with that in mind.”Along with jetting over here,the guys put in a lot of milescrossing all over the US to gig.But it’s the life they want. Nate

added: “We feel at home on theroad — we all have that in com-mon. So when we’re in the vaneating s**t fast-food or movingaround, it feels right.“Your music will only take youas far as it’s going to. So we’regoing to continue to makerecords.“If it becomes a huge thing,that’s cool — but we’re getting tosee the world with our tunes andthat’s very exciting.”Q For tour tickets, go toheyrocco.com

Listen to the band atthescottishsun.co.uk

JIM presents Drivetime on XFMScotland, Monday to Friday,4-7pm. xfm.co.uk.jimgellatly.com

GOLD STANDARD . . . Medals are set for bigger things

58 Friday, September 12, 2014 1S