The 3 Craws

The Caves, Fri 22 Jan 2010
The 3 Craws are what might in certain circles, those more given to overblown rhetoric posturing perhaps, be termed a supergroup: the three lynchpins of the Fife-based Fence Collective – Kenny Anderson, alias King Creosote, Johnny Lynch, otherwise known as The Pictish Trail, and James Yorkston - playing together in a trio of lightly strummed guitars, bobbing knees and tapping feet.
They’d probably never call it that, but super they most certainly are: this is a masterclass in melting vocal harmony, the sound of the three voices together bringing out their distinct qualities, from Anderson’s melodious gruffness via Yorkston’s seething tenor and Lynch’s plaintive choirboy tones, his mouth curling around the words as if he’s trying to catch the meaning in his mouth and swallow it whole.
With a simple set-up of three guitars, one drum and occasional electronic wizardry from Lynch, they take a rapt audience through material of their own and that of others – from Withered Hand to The Associates. A rousing sing-a-long of weegie ballad ‘Cod Liver Oil and the Orange Juice’ provides a fittingly convivial end to what’s been a spellbinding show of casual, unadorned virtuosity.