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Sacred Paws
Drygate Brewery, Glasgow
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The Glasgow-based duo of Ray Aggs (vocals/guitar) and Eilidh Rodgers (vocals/drums) have been releasing records, at their own sweet pace, on Mogwai's Rock Action label since 2015. During this zesty Celtic Connections show – which swept away the debris the day after Storm Eowyn forced the festival to shut down for 24 hours – they were augmented by bassist Moema Meade and guitarist/John Peel circa 1971 lookalike Jack Mellin.
A tight and fluid band of exceptional musicians, they feed off each other and the energy of the crowd. Towards the end of the show, Aggs was understandably delighted to witness the spontaneous formation of a grooving quasi-mosh pit at the front of the stage. Sacred Paws have that power. These tunes were made for boppin' and that's just what they do.
Aggs radiates pure joy while performing. A beaming beacon of good vibrations, they race around the stage while peeling off clean, crisp, rippling streams of highlife guitar. They've recently recovered from a bout of the flu - “Non-binary flu, the secret third kind of flu.” Self-aware sort that they are, Aggs turned references to this utterly non-life-threatening illness into an amusing running gag.
I urge you to see this band live if you can. They will lift your spirits and make everything feel better for a while.
To paraphrase the comedian Stewart Lee, the last taboo in an age of tiring cynicism is to see an artist perform something sincerely and well. The sheer exuberance, the overflowing warmth and talent, of Sacred Paws is testament to that.
