Injuns
INDIE
Since our last Injun encounter – the release of their debut album Lionel, It’s a Complicated World last year – the eclectic Skye ensemble have shed a few members and released a new single, ‘Jake of Monterey’, which they are bringing to a smattering of Scottish venues live.
The theatrical exuberance and brass bravado of their previous efforts is gone. As is the concept of a frontman, with vocalists Hector MacInnes and Leighton Jones sequestered behind drums and keyboards, respectively, and, at one point, centre stage occupied only by an guitar on a stand.
What has survived the cull is their innate sense of musicianship and songcratfting, leaving a robust four-piece with more in common with the English folk rock of the 1970s, Alan Price and Bob Dylan than their previous genre-hopping form.
This maturation in sound comes at a price, though. In putting away childish things they have lost the playful nature of their live shows, and when (former band member) Claes Cem steps up to the mic for the final few tracks, it is a tantalising reminder of what is missing.