MySpace Trawl – The Bobby McGee’s

A band usually needs instruments to work. Or if you’re a clever sod, you can just beat box.

Not only does it look really clever, but you’ll make everyone stupidly go home and attempt to do the same thing, only to end up sounding like a bit of a twat. Amazingly, it takes years of practice to get the skill right. It’s not something you can pick up after a few pints.

However, this isn’t about finding the next generation of incredibly ace beat boxers. Instead, instruments. A traditional band uses guitars, drums, the occasional keyboard and a bass guitar. But when people choose not to do so, the result can be either horrible or enjoyable. Obviously, we’ve picked a band that falls under the latter option. After watching The Bobby McGee’s, we were suitably impressed.

The sight of a fully-bearded Scottish man would usually have us running away. But there was something of a charm about The Bobby McGee’s singer Jimmy. We don’t know, maybe it was because he told us that one song the band had performed was the best in the world.

The reason for this? His mum had said so, and no-one argued with his mum. Fair point we guess. He’d only glass us if we disagreed. We wanted to return home with our face intact.

But it was the sinister lyrics in songs like Billy n Trace’ that made us feel he was capable of doing so. However, when telling us that he’d slash our throat and gouge out our eyes, it was impossible to take him seriously.

Probably because of the instrumentation the band was using. Gone were the traditional instruments. But in their place were a double bass, ukulele and saxophones amongst other things.

The music is so twee and different, it conjures up the image that we’re stranded in some field near a filthy river. Whilst the music is calm and soothing, the comedic lyrics that accompany it don’t go at all. The combination works so well, though, that you can’t help but listen.

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The Bobby McGees MySpace