success in their pocket

the irvine times

by sharon black
september 6, 1996

The latest arrival in music stores is certainly an album to look out for.

For it's the latest from Irvine's own pop stars, the Trash Can Sinatras.

And the group rekons their third album A Happy Pocket is their best yet.

"It's a bit more diverse than our previous albums and we've adopted the dulcimer to give us a slightly different sound," says guitarist John Douglas.

A dulcimer, for those of us not in the know, is a stringed instrument 'like the inside of a piano', according to the gee-tar man.

A Happy Pocket is a collection any Trash Can fan worth his or her salt would be mad to miss out on.

There are few bands who can top a Trash Can's lyric, which demonstrates perfectly that Scottish lowlife is richer than Parklife.

The history of the Trash Cans goes back to 1988, when the lads met in pubs about the New Town.

Singer Frank Reader - brother of Eddi Reader - guitarists John Douglas and Paul Livingston and drummer Stephen Douglas decided to try their hand at the music business and became one of Scotland's favourite bands.

A fifth member, bassist Davy Hughes, has recently been dropped from the lineup due to a 'parting of ways'.

It was across the pond in the proverbial land of opportunity that the Trash Cans first made their mark.

John puts this down to the differences in radio legislation between Britain and America.

"In the USA we got radio play from the very start. There's no national radio station there, instead they have specialist stations," he explains.

"But in the last few months we've started to get radio play here too, which is good for the band."

"We used to play round Irvine years ago but the folk there were more into rock music. We're based in Kilmarnock now."

To be more precise, they are based at Shabby Road Studios, where the band is presently in the throes of recording a cover of a Smiths' song for a tribute album due out in October.

And now they are going to have their very own fanzine, thanks to Kilwinning mega-fan David Anderson.

John gave the venture the seal of approval, saying: "He's a great bloke and he seems quite enthusiastic about it. We don't have a fan club yet so this could get things going."

And what will fans make of the spooky goings-on in the Trash Can's recent celluloid debut, a 15 minute short entitled Spooktime?

"It was good fun watching how the film-making process worked. We've been making our own little films on 'Super 8' cameras for a while as well as music videos. But they don't get show much so Spooktime is a good way of taking us to a wider audience," said John.

"We don't have anything similar in the pipeline but if someone approaches us, who knows?"

On their forthcoming tour, the boys are looking forward, as usual, to playing in Frank Reader's home town of Glasgow.

"We get the warmest recpetion in Glasgow but there are some good venues round about Kilmarnock," John says.

A UK tour to promote the new album kicked off on September 3 and the band will be playing the Cathouse is Glasgow on Sunday September 8.

A Happy Pocket is now available through Go!Discs.

//// The article was accompanied by a picture of the band and a sidebar that reads as follows:

Spooking Personally

The boys have been busy of late.

Not only have they released their third album, but they can also be seen in a 15 minute film about the seedy side of Glasgow culture entitled Spooktime, which was showing in the city with the Coeh Brothers' classic thriller Blood Simple.

The band's instantly recognisable tones provide the soundtrack while the lads themselves also appear as a backdrop to the action.

Not content to rest on their laurels, they have also agreed to provide the soundtrack for the stage production of Irvine Welsh's book Marabou Stork Nightmares which opens in September.

In addition, the band have been invited to contribute a track to an album to celebrate 10 years since the release of the Smiths' The Queen Is Dead.

The soon to be released album, entitled The Smiths Is Dead also includes the likes of The Boo Radleys, Therapy and Supergrass.////

Originally appeared in the Irvine Times.