Papercuts w/ Big Search and Blood Blood – Captain's Rest, Glasgow 09/06/2011

When I spoke to Jason Quever of Papercuts back in March about his band’s new record Fading Parade, he expressed his happiness with a bigger sound and playing with a regular band, something that revealed itself in the bright and layered production on the album. The record remains, months down the line, a strong contender for the top of the end-of-year lists thanks to its dream-pop heartbreak. Getting to hear these songs live was something I’d been looking forward to, if only to see how they translated from record to the stage. Turns out that the rest of Glasgow wasn’t so interested, given that the Captain’s Rest crowd numbered about 60-70 at the most.

Before we get to Papercuts, a word or two for the support. Big Search, who play to literally two handfuls of people, are an unexpected delight. The baby of Matt Popieluch (Foreign Born, Fool’s Gold), Big Search trade in angular guitar lines, keening vocals and fine melodies that bring to mind Jonathan Richman, Tom Verlaine and the chug of Velvet Underground. Such a shame that so few people are there to see Popieluch’s fine set. Not so good is local band Blood Blood, the solo project of David Gwynne, who manage to conjour up the chilling memory of Owl City, and combine it with thumping electro.

When Quever and his band finally take to the stage, it’s worth the wait. If you’ve ever seen the video for ‘Do What You Will’, in which Quever is the loner at the party then his quiet stage presence should come as no surprise. What is a turn-up for the books: the transformation of the more upbeat moments on Fading Parade into edgy workouts that call to mind the sharper moments of The Go-Betweens, and somehow the dreamier moments become more heartbreakingly gorgeous.

Highlights include a frantic and pleading version of the aforementioned ’Do What You Will’ (“you come as you please / and go as you need”), a powerful ‘Do You Really Wanna Know’ and a blistering rendition of ‘Marie Says You’ve Changed’. There’s also time for slowed-down, extended versions of the floating ‘I’ll See You Later I Guess’ and mini symphony ‘The Messenger’. It’s warming to hear some earlier tracks by the band, with ‘John Brown’ an absolute standout.

Quever is ably assisted by a fine rhythm section, plus Matt Popieluch providing extra vocals, keys and guitars – all four look like they’ve just stepped out of the Apple offices circa 1981.

High hopes that bands can deliver the goods live can sometimes be dashed by the end product not living up to what’s on the record. Nevertheless, Papercuts pull off the trick, creating something that exists separately from Fading Parade but remains very much on an equal footing. In pushing the songs further towards the dream-pop, or towards the wired, Quever and co add an extra layer of enjoyment to such already well-crafted pop songs.