Saturday 03/04/10 Hinterland Festival @ Various Venues, Glasgow

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After a poorly received debut last year, Hinterland returned to Glasgow for a second crack at the festival whip. This time around made for a more promising venture, with a better line-up and multi-venues positioned closer together. Anything involving outdoor activity is always a little risky in Glasgow, however thankfully the skies stayed mainly clear for an evening of Easter high jinx.

First stop was The Admiral, sponsored by yours truly, Gigwise. London trio Bleech started our night with some grunge-rock attitude, and strangely, no footwear. With a name that is perhaps in homage to Nirvana, hot chicks on guitars are always going to pull a crowd. However they proved there was more to Bleech than just good haircuts with a feisty yet somewhat aloof onstage presence and Britpop-inspired songs of guts and punk vigour, the best being ‘Are You Listening’ and ‘The Worthing Song.’

They were followed by rock-favourites Pulled Apart by Horses. With a name that derives from a method of medieval torture, the boys thrash around the stage with plenty hair and gusto, whipping the crowd into a guitar-driven frenzy. Despite the strangely small turn-out, thumping tracks like the anti-PETA, “I Punched a Lion in the Throat’ and ‘E = MC Hammer’ more than sufficed.

Since last year, Hinterland has been condensed into a one-day, shorter event, which did end up posing the problem of hectic legwork, although this is the case with any festival really. We end up running from PABH to catch the end of French Wives, who are fast becoming a Glasgow treasure. A completely different sound from our previous rock-thrash encounter, the wives present well-considered orchestral songs of fragility and emotion, prompting comparisons to Broken Records and Arcade Fire. However, these boys come with the additional Glasgow charm package of witty ad-lib and a better tailor.

Mystery Jets pulled the biggest crowd of the night, with past hits Young Love and Two Doors Down igniting dance floor nostalgia of summers past. However, these were placed alongside new, unknown songs, which was perhaps a bit of a risky venture that didn’t quite pay off. It was then another quick run-around to catch the end of Jeffrey Lewis, who was probably the best of the night with his quirky, thoughtful songs of love and life. Educated, emotive and funny, he presents literate symbolism with strange lyrics such as “don’t be upset, it’s only an octopus.’ Lewis was an unexpected delight. ‘Broken Broken Broken Heart’ is a strange and lovely mix of raw emotion and upbeat humour. I wish I’d chosen to see more of him over the jets.

The Friendly Fires DJ set was perhaps the only letdown, as there didn’t appear to be a friendly fire in sight. The previous Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosours provided the best club tunes of the evening, spinning electro wonders in a theatrical feathered headdress. Check out the one-man dino Myspace for a quirky laugh.

A great night of eclectic beats and bands. Hinterland - we take it all back, do come again.

Hinterland 2010 in photos: