Kid Canaveral

Josie Long, eagleowl and more join in Kid Canaveral's annual shindig

The combination of cheap tins and 12 hours of live entertainment could be an endurance test in the wrong hands, but the second annual Fence Records/Kid Canaveral Chirstmas Baubles all-dayer doesn’t exactly feel like a chore. A joyous turn by Fence mainman Johnny Lynch, aka The Pictish Trail in the low-lit Summerhall sets the bar for appearances by Aidan John Moffat, Sweet Baboo and eagleowl, while ex De Rosa frontman Martin John Henry puts in a fine early evening performance on the back of his well-received – and rightly so – debut solo album, The Other Half of Everything.

Comedienne Josie Long does her best to warm up the crowd, pre-dinner break, with a routine centred on the fantastical prospect of her sharing a flat with a ghost before Standard Fare ply us all with swift chunks of sugary pop. Offering the obligatory Christmas nod with a few bars of Shakin’ Stevens’ ‘Merry Christmas Everyone’, our hosts this evening, Kid Canaveral, fire home a short but sweet set that sees them joined by King Creosote for split single, ‘Home Run and a Vow’, before an impromptu in-crowd singalong to Pulp’s ‘Disco 2000’ sees Sheffield’s Slow Club round things out in suitably upbeat fashion. - The List

Some of us only get lucky at Christmas by brandishing mistletoe as one might an axe.

Not alt-pop charmers Kid Canaveral. Their pulling powers are slick and far-reaching, if their second annual pop carousal, Christmas Baubles II, was anything to go by.

Fife romancer The Pictish Trail fired up the room with a drive-pop super-group that included Edinburgh chamber post-rockers Eagleowl, before a turn from Welsh skewed-folk bard Sweet Baboo, Yuletide comedy and "reverse burlesque" from London comic Josie Long, and heady alt-rock from Glasgow's Martin John Henry.

Standard Fare attested their name is ironic – the Sheffield troupe packed several power-pop punches – and Kid Canaveral made for typically rousing hosts in a set that included a King Creosote cameo (for their joint single, Homerun and a Vow) and an alluring hint of what's to come in the riveting alt-rock of new song, The Wrench.

Two stand-out moments made the day. One came courtesy of heavenly indie duo Slow Club, who opened their performance in the middle of the sold-out crowd, and re-cast Pulp's student anthem Disco 2000 as a fragile, show-stopping aria.

The other highlight came from Aidan Moffat, who floored us with an acoustic rendition of Arab Strap's I Would Have Liked Me a Lot Last Night, and outshone PJ Harvey in the role of "icon pacing stage with autoharp". The sucker punch came with a beautiful children's story, The Lavender Blue Dress. It struck the room silent and moved some to tears.

"Polyamory is the place to be," crooned Moffat in a song about group sex. Given Kid Canaveral's pop love-in, one is tempted to agree. - The Herald

The stars aligned around St Andrews in the summer of 2001.

It was then that a quiet-spoken girl from England – let’s call her Kate – arrived in the picturesque Scottish town, to attend university. She soon met a student of the opposite sex and the rest is history.

The Kate in question was Kate Lazda and the male she encountered was David MacGregor, and the bond they formed was borne of a love for DIY culture and indie-pop.

While the media spotlight was on St Andrews for monarchic reasons – Prince William and Kate Middleton were in the same year as our alt-rock heroes – MacGregor and Lazda galvanised a parallel, punk-spirited dominion in which prom gowns were usurped by band T-shirts and ballroom basements heaved to the strains of Joy Zipper and KT Tunstall. Our duo booked these acts in their guise as Alternative Music Society honchos, and supported them as members of power-pop troupe Kid Canaveral: a party-starting four-piece who have amassed quite a fanbase.

“I’d never been in a band before,” recalls guitarist and co-singer/songwriter Lazda of Kid Canaveral’s early days opening for King Creosote and warming up for Tiffany (yes, that Tiffany). “I think I’d written two songs and now I’ve written eight,” she laughs. While MacGregor is the group’s principal writer, Lazda has an impressive hit rate: pretty much every song she’s written has been released.

“I try not to think about the first few years,” grimaces MacGregor. His modesty belies his promise as a vocalist and songwriter: he has an irresistible ability to fuse vintage indie disco with US alt-rock and anthemic Scottish pop. “We recorded some CDRs when we started in 2004, and if anyone still has a copy …” he buries his head in his hands.

“It was my first band too,” reminisces bassist-vocalist Rose McConnachie, who completes the Kid Canaveral line-up alongside drummer Scott McMaster. (Original sticksman, Dan Sheehy, left in 2008). The band graduated in the mid-2000s. MacGregor, McConnachie and Sheehy moved to Edinburgh, while Lazda settled in Anstruther. On occasion, she assisted at Fence Records – the Fife enterprise helmed by King Creosote, alias Kenny Anderson, and The Pictish Trail, aka fellow St Andrews alumnus Johnny Lynch. The band befriended Lynch at university, where he preceded them as leader of the Alternative Music Society, and performed under the rock pseudonym Prince William’s Golf Band.

Kid Canaveral started their own label, Straight to Video, in 2007, and released a series of singles – all but one of which had a striking visual identity thanks to Rose’s artist sister, Eve – but their Fence alliance has proven enduring. They’ve long been a highlight of Fence live events and toured the US with King Creosote in March. Kid Canaveral played some American dates, starred at Texas industry showcase South by Southwest, and performed a few shows as King Creosote’s backing band.

It is fitting that Kid Canaveral are now officially signed to Fence and the label is set to re-release their 2010 debut album, Shouting At Wildlife, on CD and vinyl in July. It was originally issued on CD via Straight to Video, and became such a hit it was Edinburgh record shop Avalanche’s best-selling album of last year. “I can’t believe how the past 12 months have gone,” reflects MacGregor. “It’s been incredible. Selling out shows in Edinburgh, Glasgow and London – that’s just insane – and having such a positive reaction to our album was brilliant.”

Kid Canaveral headline the Fence Collective gig at Oran Mor, Glasgow, on Sunday, which also features King Creosote, The Pictish Trail and Withered Hand. Shouting At Wildlife is re-released in July. - The Herald

With a slot on the BBC Introducing Stage at T in the Park and an album on Fence Records, Kid Canaveral are set for the big time
From an Edinburgh music scene which has enjoyed welcome vibrancy over the past few years comes Kid Canaveral, the latest band to go from well-known faces in the city's venues to a group finally deserving of national success. This year has been their year so far, and they've been on a roll since it began.

"We've played two UK tours this year already," says 27-year-old singer and guitarist David MacGregor. "We've played everything possible while still fitting in day jobs and recording and stuff, it's been crazy."

The highlight of 2011 so far has been a trip to the South By Southwest music conference in Austin, Texas, which also saw them manage three self-organised dates in New York beforehand.

The Texas trip has earned the band an appearance on this week's Artworks Scotland documentary, a travelogue presented by Vic Galloway following Scotland's representatives at SXSW.

"I'm dreading seeing my sunburned face on the telly," laughs MacGregor. He enjoyed the festival, though. "The shows were great, it was nice to see we could go somewhere completely different and still get the same reaction as home. To be honest, we discovered we can get a bigger crowd in New York than we can in Aberdeen."

For Anstruther-based guitarist Kate Lazda, 28, the satisfaction of SXSW was about more than just playing the gigs.

"The really hard work was beforehand," she says. "We didn't have a manager so it was basically David and I organising it. The visa thing was the most terrifying part. The whole thing was an eye-opener about how much work is involved (in managing a band], so the fact it all came together well was pleasing."

"A lot of people there were aware of us through articles and blogs," says MacGregor, "or even just from knowing a lot about Scottish music, which was bizarre but good. There was no suggestion of a holiday for us, we worked hard, we played about three gigs a day and met lots of interesting people in the industry.

"For a band at the DIY level like us it's actually most important to get to know other bands, they can tell you things like where's best to go and play. We knew that after spending so much money to get out there, we had to make the most of it."

It's a deserved reward at last for a half-serious hobby started by a bunch of university mates at St Andrews in 2004.

"I first met David in class," says Lazda, "where I think they went round the room and made us say what we did, and we were the only two people who played the guitar. Then we met properly through the Alternative Music Society, and Dan (Sheehy, original drummer, since replaced by Clarke Geddes and re-replaced by Scott McMaster) and Rose (McConnachie, bassist, a schoolfriend of MacGregor's from Glasgow) were both there too. We were probably the only people in St Andrews that were interested in being in a band."

MacGregor and Lazda took over the running of the Alternative Music Society from fellow St Andrews alumnus Johnny Lynch (the Fence Collective's Pictish Trail) and it's a friendship which continues to this day. Lazda is involved with the running of the Homegame festival and Fence webshop, and the group have acted as King Creosote's backing band on occasion.

Fence will also be re-releasing Kid Canaveral's debut album, Shouting at Wildlife, later this month, following its limited release on the band's own Straight to Video label last year. Why so long to finally link up with the label?

"Because we weren't good enough before," says MacGregor. "I like the singles we released on Straight to Video, but for me they all add up to the equivalent of our first album, that's where all the early material we'd rather not hear again is. Whereas considering it was recorded over lots of different sessions with different drummers, I'm surprised whenever I hear the album and realise how well it fits together. We're really pleased with it."

The record, like the live show, is a most Fence-like combination of immediate indie-pop songwriting, rich folk overtones and an almost self-deprecating sense of infectious fun.

It should go down well at their debut T in the Park appearance on the BBC Introducing Stage, which MacGregor is looking forward to for the experience and for their CV: "Because people think of you as a proper band if you've played a festival like T – mostly relatives."

For any young group who are slowly feeling their way into a career, Kid Canaveral are reassuring proof of two adages: that you shouldn't put yourself out there until you're really ready; and that when things eventually start to happen for you, they happen quickly.

Once a promotional period for the album is complete there are plans in motion for the follow-up, although the band are already used to pacing themselves.

"It feels like we've got better every year," says Lazda, "and that things have got better for us every year. It's definitely been worth the wait."

• Kid Canaveral play the BBC Introducing Stage at T in the Park tomorrow and Avalanche Records, Edinburgh, on 23 July. The album Shouting at Wildlife is re-released by Fence Records on 18 July. Artworks Scotland: Scotland Rocks at South By Southwest is on BBC2 Scotland on 5 July. - The Scotsman

**** (4 Stars) Indie guitar pop is out of favour with music industry fashionistas at the moment, but Scottish boy-girl quartet Kid Canaveral could be the band to bring it back with a bang. This debut is packed with singalong melodies, frisky jangles and a real sense of purpose, with ‘Left and Right’ and the joyous ‘Smash Hits’ reminiscent of the best bits of Bis or The Shop Assistants. There is depth behind the shimmer too –’And Another Thing!!’ is the kind of sweetly intimate gem Snow Patrol used to produce before they started aiming at row ZZ. A jubilant and skilful racket. - The List

**** (4 Stars) Kid Canaveral have four self-released seven inches to their name, lyrics that rhyme Smash Hits with Brad Pitt, and debut album artwork adorned with doodled cute animals. Egads, what twee nightmare lies in wait behind this squirrel sketch? None, silly: Shouting At Wildlife is a thrilling, uplifting and generally all-round spiffing combination of indie-pop skills, lyrical wit, and choruses sung through smiles.

It doesn’t quite manage twelve full tracks of unbroken charm (Her Hair Hangs Down for one is disappointingly limp), but for a good portion of its run time, Kid Canaveral deliver winner after winner: You Only Went Out To Get Drunk Last Night skips jauntily on bouncy backing vocals; On Occasion somehow sounds like a less hormone-led Scottish Blink wan-eighty-too; And Another Thing is the pick of their softer side; while Smash Hits and Cursing Your Apples provide chuckles as well as indie-disco dancefloor material. - The Skinny

When rock music - especially in a slimy, pitch black venue like tonight - is so often unflinchingly masculine, it's always refreshing to see some ladies rock the roost too. Kid Canaveral aren't on the Girl Power side of femininity, with only half of the four members hailing from Venus, but a delectable, dainty pop nature shines throughout - 'Good Morning' is slight grunge injected with sweetened beams of sunshine, and with sing-a-longs, smiles and self-proclaimed "shite banter" (indeed it is the exact opposite) Kid Canaveral showcase a sound too big to be Scotland's secret for much longer. - The Fly

Next up is one of Scotland's best new bands Kid Canaveral, who had already won us over with dynamite pop nuggets 'Smash Hits' and 'Couldn't Dance'. Their new AA side single however sees them taking in Grrrl Group femme-pop ('Second Time Around') and yet another super-catchy dose of Scotia indie with 'Missing Me' . - Clash Magazine

Early highlights on Saturday included Cate Le Bon (and a cover of Labi Siffre's It Must Be Love); a combustible indie set from Kid Canaveral; and Darren Hayman from Hefner, whose first song was about "a woman dying in a car crash". - The Guardian

Ah Kid Canveral, one of the very few successful purveyors of spiky indie pop in a city so devoted to its agit-folk that you’d think there was something in the water. Their last single Smash Hits is a slice of bouncy indie pop so perfect it could more or less define the genre.

In every single song they manage to find that hook - the sticky bit that worms its way into your head and makes you hum a song for weeks afterwards. The self-same reason that, even from amongst a music collection thousands of songs deep like my own, every time a Kid Canaveral song come on, you always know it and you always know who sings it. No matter how rarely you’d heard the thing.

It’s brilliant fun watching them play, too - the fun in the music evident in the cheek of the lyrics. It’s so Scottish: they just can’t ever, ever be entirely, one hundred percent serious: an infectious, happy joy in a city full of dour miserablists. The single can be bought from Fence Records here, and so can the previous one, here. Don’t expect to be surprised, but I’d be downright amazed if you were at all disappointed. - Song, By Toad