Andrew Lindsay & the Coat Hooks - The Whittling

We’re well used to seeing members of legendary bands get together to form what the press tends to call a super-group, as may be the case with bands such as the recent Them Crooked Vultures that was formed by the elite of rock music of recent years. What we’re not so used to is seeing how a bunch of very promising young artist join forces at such an early stage.

What we have here can easily be described as the wet dream of anyone who loves new Scottish folk. Glasgow´s Andrew Lindsay delivers a surprising EP with the help of “the Coat Hooks”, an ensemble of talented Scottish artists that can only mean top quality.

The Whittling is the title of this record, which with five tracks serves as the perfect trampoline for what should hopefully be a long-lasting collaboration between these lads.  Lads whose names you should definitely be familiar with, as Mr. Lindsay is here joined by the likes of Shambles Miller, Loch Awe’s Matthew Healy or Reverie’s Louise Connell – in other words, the young superheroes of the current Scottish folk panorama.

The record, while taken with an obvious folk approach, starts stronger and louder than you might expect. The Boat Outside serves as the opener and demonstrates exactly what I mean by being surprised at what they offer. After a few gentle, solitary key strokes, the atmosphere suddenly thunders into a folk-rock composition, filled with raw strength but without losing the folkability of it all. It works rather well and sticks into your head after a few seconds.

With Bearded Author the direction steers slightly as the instrumental guitar and warm vocals seem to veer into American folk territory, working its magic and still doing a magnificent job for a calmer but not less impressive track.

With the fear of repeating myself, Andrew Lindsay & the Coat Hooks is an obvious fountain of talented youth which stream geniality from every pore.  If all turns out as it should be, we should be looking forward to a full length album from the super-group and many, many fantastic live performances.

The Boat Outside by AndrewLindsaytheCoatHooks