Seattle – I will always love a band that can take us back to the days of high school basement shows while bringing that mature flair of high sound quality. For this reason, but not for this reason alone, I love PAWS. The Scottish trio played Barboza (a venue that’s been just killing it with booking great bands lately) to a small but dedicated crowd. There wasn’t much dancing and there wasn’t much movement. In its place was focus and seemingly heartfelt enjoyment (I say seemingly only because I can’t actually know what was in the hearts of the crowd).
PAWS play pretty aggressive indie-punk. This is a band I wouldn’t be surprised to hear coming out of Seattle, actually (a city whose climate isn’t wholly dissimilar to Glasgow). They play with a certain nonchalance that’s coupled with its own breed of enthusiasm. Working off their 2012 debut release on Fat Cat Records, most of the set came from that album. With a release forthcoming in 2014, however, we did get to hear a preview of some of the new songs. I can safely say, get excited. Like what seems to be characteristic of PAWS, the new tracks are subdued but passionate — aggressive, yes, but thoughtful.
It was a very fast-paced show, even if all the songs weren’t necessarily fast-paced. There was just a stream of music that the band barely interrupted with chatter. They only briefly took a musical break to ask the crowd for some Scottish solidarity (which they received very little of, unfortunately). They also introduced each song only by saying how many songs they had left in their set. At first this seemed impatient and uninvolved but it might have been habitual and not a reflection of how the group felt about the show and the set.
Even if they weren’t feeling it, their set didn’t reflect any subdued energy. They brought their all to the music and each member was obviously so comfortable with each other and on stage (making it feel even more like those good old high school gigs). Just earlier this year one of the founding members, Matthew Scott, left the band and was replaced by Ryan Drever. The group’s dynamic, however, did not reflect any newness or a forced adjustment to a new lineup.
PAWS is continuing its fall tour; check out tour dates here and check in with Fat Cat for news on the upcoming album.
Photos By Xtract
