Declan Welsh and the Decadent West bring a phenomenal energy and excitement as they tour their Debut Album ” Cheaply Bought, Expensively Sold.”
As they arrive at Inverness Hootanannay they explain ” We’re nearing the end of the tour. We’ve run out of clothes; we’ve run out of energy.” Luckily, the ” young team” of fans in the audience are in full sweaty, fist pumping effect to reflect the required energy back to the band. The result is loud, bouncy, messy and genuinely exciting.
Welsh is reminiscent of a young Alex Kapranos when Franz Ferdinand erupted onto the Scottish music scene. The band feed off each other and the energy of the crowd. Duncan McBride, Ben Corlett and Jamie Holmes provide the solid stage that allows Declan to shine.
Clearly influenced by The Strokes and aforementioned Franz Ferdinand, this politically aware collective has a lot to say and are not shy of saying it. Scottish indie punk at its finest, Declan and friends have polished their act during the tour and are now accomplished performers who will surely be filling stadia before too long.
This Glasgow band originally hailed from deepest suburbia, but they have travelled far from the blandly comfortable East Kilbride; as far as tear-gas ridden protests Palestine. Their politics is to the fore and is firmly left of centre. Their anti- fascist anthem “No Paseran” is delivered with blistering passion as they demand that we “Don’t Tolerate Intolerance.”
Welsh reminds us that we all have a part to play in politics and building the society we want to live in, saying “Fascism isn’t goose-stepping; it’s attitudes, it’s jokes”
“No Fun” is a fabulous piece of razor -sharp social commentary. In “How Does your Love” Welsh clearly demonstrates he has an old soul in a young body with his poetry and clarity of thought.
The audience shared an outstanding event with genuine excitement, and a feeling that these young people will indeed change the world. And they’ll have a glorious time while doing so.