cayto

[cayto] / L Casio Immunitas
Glasgow ABC2
Having never been to the ABC since it (re)opened (I recall a visit to the cinema to see Alien in the 80s), it’s an odd experience. Cinemas those days seemed to have wee lounge bars, and this still appears to be one. Hardly a rock venue by any means, it boasts a raised area with seats facing away from the stage, and a bar at one side of a room which is impossibly wide, like they've accidentally built it sideways.
As it transpires I’m there too late to see G-plan, but I don’t realise this, at least not at first. L Casio, mooted by many ‘in the know’ as one of Glasgow’s hottest properties, could have been performing out-takes from G-plan’s debut album, at least the first couple of songs, which is powered by those post-rockin' beats that only Glasgow could give birth to. They diversify, however, with some action-packed fun with a Korg stage front, and some twin-drummer shenanigans. High points in a set which isn’t as monopaced as I originally feared, features some latin-tinged guest saxophone. Plus, creative use of castanets is thrown into the percussive mix on the closing number. In all, promising, if they can get past the hyperbole (in fairness, it may only be myself who has heard this!)
But if LCI (as I shall style them from now on) needed any more variation in their set, they need only look at cayto’s debut album ‘Your Atoms Are Laughing’ - a glorious mess of punk, metal, torch songs, Radiohead-y epic angst, and more than a smattering of prog. They’ve stuck to the latter path for !Stupendium!, the album they're launching tonight. The subject of a few rave reviews, it is an epic, mighty release, and tonight they replicate this pretty well, even when debuting their click track which works without mishap. Everything is pretty much perfect - Paul’s voice searing and soaring, the guitar and drum work tight as is required for such complex time signatures. However, I’m left thinking that it works better on record - maybe that is the high standard of the recording, or maybe the setting. but what IS the correct setting for a prog rock gig (assuming a Dungeons and Dragons convention foyer slot is unavailable)? Probably not in the lounge of a former cinema - but maybe that’s progress.