Narc. Magazine Online
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Ben Lowes-Smith enjoys a night of playful improvisation and humour from David Thomas Broughton
Image: David Thomas Broughton by Ben Lowes-Smith
Viking Moses writes sturdily melodic folk rock songs with particularly evocative imagery. It speaks to the romance of the American suburbs, matters of the heart and the unbearableness of being with incisive detail and wit, and Moses’ melodic and rudimentary guitar playing suit these witty, melancholy vignette’s perfectly.
Faith Elliott is something of a revelation tonight. Hailing from Glasgow, her songs have a a similar irreverent, dreamlike quality to the works of fellow Weegie Alisdair Gray. Whether she is using deep-sea ocean creatures as an extended metaphor for attachment styles, or presenting two insects making love on dogtooth tiles, her wonderfully imaginative songs have a richness and an emotional weight which leaves this writer wanting to explore more.
On the subject of irreverence, it’s often been a byword for David Thomas Broughton’s live performance. Taking from the aesthetic presentation of his new record Heavy Thoughts, he treats us to some of his best songs amongst playful improvisation and humour, backed up by a tremendous drummer and pianist. Favourites like Dots, Unmarked Grave and Onwards We Trudge are mildly bludgeoned out of shape in the context of the performance, but as ever Broughton strikes a beautiful balance between the profound and the silly. His dazzling voice could emotively present the Yellow Pages, and his laconic rambling stories are a beautiful source of entertainment in and of themselves.
