There's always a place in the Bluesbunny's heart for some perfect pop music. Glasgow's Yellow Bentines provide us with a fine selection of songs to satisfy our appetite with their self titled album.

A jolly little album, whilst always welcome, would not necessarily impress us. However, properly constructed songs that twist, turn and grab our attention will. There are plenty of those to enjoy here. Opening with the ska flavoured "Down and Up", the tone is set for an upbeat 10 tracks. Like all self respecting albums, there is even a song about a girl (called "Francesca"). A delightfully dark tale of a relationship that has hit the end of the tracks, its bouncy rhythm proves to be the perfect counterpoint. "Freelance Hippy Girl" is, in contrast, a delicate and melancholy song driven by some affecting trumpet playing. "Pay Cheque" worked best for us with its dramatic, sweeping introduction, laconic vocals and the kind of lyrics that would make Ray Davies proud. Ending on "Hope" we get a commentary on the dysfunctional nature of modern life.

The interplay between piano and trumpet gives the Yellow Bentines their unique sonic identity but it is the song writing that makes them special. It is harder than you might think to write a commercial pop song and keep it fresh and interesting. Martin Hay's pen is certainly coming up with the goods in that department. In fact, we would go as far as comparing him with the gods of the intelligent pop song, Chris Difford and Glen Tilbrook. Even better than that, you can even download the album for free from their website. Deal of the week, without a doubt!

Bluesbunny

21st Century Music

"Yellow Bentines
Beanscene Haymarket, Edinburgh
29th August 2007

So yeah, just hanging with the Yellow Bentines. I felt like such a fanboy/groupie (while I didn’t sleep with Martin, I did in-adversely shout I want his babies). Free tea was exploited and a new song created out of the lumbered lack of noise. You really can’t beat the down to earth atmosphere of a Beanscene.

So the hat trick for me in attendance of Yellow Bentines Beanscene and also this as the triumphant third review. It also sees me returning to the place where I first heard the live soundings of this Glasgow (varied number) piece. And credit to the band who keep trooping on while still enjoying the process as they try again to get a limited audience to clap along (persistence does work, well it did with me anyway).

In-between festival appearances, Yellow Bentines can be found in three piece form in the already overly-mentioned Haymarket Beanscene. Now don’t be thinking that you’re about to read the same review again from me, tonight was just that bit more different (and that bit more special I say in an attempt to make you feel that bit more guilty for not coming):

First Variable – double trumpets!
Second Variable – new* songs!

*Not as such new to them maybe but not performed live to my ear before.

The addition of another horn, the sound was…well double as good – horn wise. With both Helen and Sarah working trumpets, it made for a well layered addition. But then again, two trumpets is the normal amount for the band so maybe that’s why it sounds so fitting. But then again, it just shows that your brass section can never be too big – even in a Beanscene.

Song wise it’s a treat as ever with sprinkles this time in the form of new song “In Line” and album closer “Hope” (and the two-note/one-word “Silence” if that counts). The former is a rather angry number with excessive shouts to “Go wild!” and jabs on the two trumpets while “Hope” makes for the song to sway to on the set tonight. If there wasn’t a smoking ban in the country, the people would have raised their lighters.

Even third time live they still impress me with their youthful take on their album songs. “Down And Up” is still a fun old frolic of jazzy ska with Martin’s hyperactive hand clapping while those doomy bass notes on “Pay Cheque” still tick boxes for me. You’d think I was growing tiresome of this and of having to find something to centre a review around (this one was a bit loose in comparison) but no. I’m still enjoying it and it more than due that so many more take pleasure from their music like I do.

By Ray Finlayson"

Yellow Bentines
Beanscene Nicolson Street, Edinburgh
26th July 2007

Does a Beanscene actually count as a venue? Does this actually count as a gig? Well let’s check. The music is there, a good start. The audience, yes they are there too, albeit a few who just came in for a mocha and got a free show. And I suppose that’s all you need for a gig – music and an audience to play to. The location then seems an unnecessary piece of the now solved puzzle. It doesn’t matter where you’re playing, as long as you’re playing and playing to someone.

And so tonight, or last night, or last week depending when you read this – a different Beanscene, a different audience and a different trumpet player from last time but essentially the same Yellow Bentines. Using the most of less “stage” space, Martin and Sarah re-create the bands self titled debut with practical and fun precision.

Again, the set begins with frantic, bouncy and playful “Down And Up” and then moves onto the slower plot sequence of the set with the likes of “Freelance Hippy Girl” and the touchingly steady “The Person You Want Me To Be”. The change in tempo is a nice one but there’s always the worry that those new to the music will drift off in between to have answer that phone call or order another muffin. However with only piano and trumpet (and occasional shaker), there’s only so much two people can do. Obviously if the full band would come across as more compelling but for just the two, the sound is worthy enough.

Although Yellow Bentines do have their cunning way of leaving a lasting impression on an audience. Their double act of “Francesca” and “Another Day” with the rhetorical request for the audience to clap along to both makes many hands go numb but is such a successful and simple way of getting those watching to listen more intently. If that wasn’t enough to grab our attention, the encore reprise of “Down And Up” followed by “Another Day” accompanied with double pace hand clapping (just to make sure all our palm nerves were shot).

I do enjoy Yellow Bentines’ Beanscene shows. Their jovial musical intimacy is always welcoming. However part of me can’t help think that they deserve bigger, better venues. Martin is a talented, compelling, sometime even hypnotic piano man and his leading onstage actions deserve a proper stage, not one created by moving a few chairs and tables.

By Ray Finlayson

Thanks to Rick Fulton for reviewing our Album:

"SKA is a dirty word when you put it into the same breath as The Ordinary Boys.

Thankfully, Scotland keeps Two-Tone music alive through bands such as The Amphetameanies and also the Yellow Bentines. The first three songs on the Glaswegian four-piece's album use the ska rhythm on Down And Up, Madness doing Oasissounding Francesca andThe Bangles tinged And Then There's You, as well as at the end of the album on Anger!

But it's not all piano and trumpet that makes this album far more interesting. The Person You Want Me To Be has the melancholy of Athlete, while the band go all folky on Freelance Hippy Girl.

They play Hogshead, Shawlands, June 29, Not In The Park, Firewater, Glasgow, July 7, and King Tut's Glasgow on July 10. "

"Yellow Bentines
Beanscene, Haymarket, Edinburgh
13th June 2007

There have been some small and intimate gigs I've been to over the past year or so. Many would cram themselves into the tiniest of places to catch a glimpse of a band or a singer. I think it was my last review I said how intimate the likes of Henry's Cellar bar was (I've got to stop doing that) but there is always somewhere smaller. Always. I predict myself writing a review in around October that will recall the event of a band playing a janitors closet in a school.

I've actually never been in a Beanscene before mind having been to a gig in one. It just so happens I haven't visited a lot of common places – I've also never been in a KFC, Starbucks or a sex shop. The exterior of the Beanscene on Haymarket in Edinburgh is rather rustic and classy with the café's name indented in stone above the stairway entrance. Inside it's a contrast of the outside with modern art deco style fittings, comfy brown leather chairs alongside aged wooden ones to go with the tables. The place itself is actually rather empty with a couple or two scattered around and a family like group enjoying a laugh near where the band look set to play. It just so happens that this group actually consisted of the band members set to entertain us tonight.

In all fairness I only found this band last week and have no knowledge of them except that there was meant to be four of them – this is what happens when a band puts greatly addictive games on their websites, distracting you from doing proper research. However only two took to the stage tonight – Martin on vocals and piano and either Mel or Sarah on trumpet. I feel bad not knowing which of the girls it was and I apologise for not knowing so but either way, the girl trumpeted finely.

"Down And Up" took all of the 15 people's attention, beginning the short set with frantic piano, hurried handclaps and playfully energetic trumpet. The song itself is just short of two minutes but it's a catchy number, reminiscent of I'm From Barcelona at points, that takes Martin off his seats to show the audience how to clap – though it was to fast for anyone to catch onto.

After this opening burst of energy, things seemed to go mellow on comparison. "And Then There's You" and "The Person You Want Me To Be" along with other tracks from their free (yes free!) debut album took the atmosphere down a tone but kept interest affirmed as the piano playing was always energetic enough to make it almost fall off it's stand while the trumpet toned the air with slow jazz elements. The final two numbers had Martin, wearing some groovy musical notes suspenders, insisting the audience clap along which did leave my hands feeling kind of raw but like the music, it was involving, fun and well, free.

By Ray Finlayson"

"Take one gentle Scottish indie band. Send away (some of) the guitars and draft in some brass, ivory and ebony. Sing about everything in a cheery manner so that elegies to lost relationships and the general injustices of life sound like good things. Congratulations: you are now Yellow Bentines. You can range from ska pop to bittersweet balladry with occasional digressions into fruity jazz, all with extreme articulacy. You can use piano, bass and drums to delimit the boundaries in which two exuberant trumpets and wavering vocals rollick about. You can charm with soulful, playful tunes. But can you prove that you are more than the sum of your parts?

***
(Suzanne Black)
The List"

:: Yellow Bentines ::
07 May 2007 / Demo / 10 Trk CD
By JA

Glasgow’s Yellow Bentines are down as a quartet on their MySpace site but various pictures reveal at least five people involved. Although bass and guitars are present on this really compelling album, the core of the band revolves around a rather unique configuration of drummer, keyboard player and two lady trumpeters. It all makes for a collection of songs immersed in erstwhile classic Scottish indie pop, flavoured by the bookish seriousness of their sometimes epic excursions. It’s the vibrancy of the brass though that creates the magnificent crescendos and exciting hooklines. The keyboard is used effectively too, switching between piano, organ, synth and all sorts of interesting and diverse sounds. “The Person You Want Me To Be” is a superb song, exploiting the high production values to create a slower trip carried by piano and B. Wilson styled vocals. “The Secret Of Betrayal” starts off in much the same way, before galloping off into a dark, excitable second half with growling fuzztones and vaudeville styled highlights. Amazing stuff it is and the jolly indie ska pop of “Another Day” takes the band from serious melodrama to upbeat light hearted melodies with just the flick of a beat.

Their eponymous album is a creative delight, illuminated by an original sound and more than enough ideas to mark them very much apart from normal record release trends. It’s also free - which is all the more bewildering as it equals if not surpasses the efforts of most signed acts - highly recomended


MMMM

December 2006

VERSAcoustic aims to showcase bands in a more intimate setting, stripping performers down to the essentials and allowing them to demonstrate the craft behind their songs. Both the Yellow Bentines and Popup are usually associated with cheery pop, but their songs about girls and memory translate well into the acoustic form. Popup's combination of male and female vocals is particularly enchanting, and their sense of melancholic melody is revealed. The Yellow Bentines, on the other hand, driven by Sarah's wistful trumpet and Martin Hay's bouncy piano, retain a joyful pace. These two satisfying sets from Glasgow's emerging talents are well received by the partisan crowd, but it is James Yorkston who fully demonstrates the possibilities of a minimal sound. His folk guitar picking and rich, warm voice, along with his obvious mastery of the solo performance, hushes the audience and highlights his songwriting skills. Without his usual backing band, Yorkston is a fine component of the new folk movement, linking back to Nick Drake and Martin Carthy, but without forgoing a contemporary feel.

Gareth K Vile (The Skinny)

December 2006

In the launch of a new acoustic tour in 2007 - to feature such luminaries as Emma Pollock, BMX Bandits and My Latest Novel - the lineup of acts on this launch night wasn't too shabby either, with three acts lining up to entertain dedicated fans and industry scenesters alike. (Product placement alert, sample packages to the address below - it's officially the Versacoustic night and tour; named after the sponsor's new lager, tiny shot-sized glasses of which fuel the throng... review: basically a lager version of their Tennents Velvet and as such rather more palatable than their usual brand of festival-floating brew.)

The Yellow Bentines, oddly, were best placed for the gig in many respects. Perhaps playing to a more sober and appreciative audience, their piano-driven brand of acoustic pop - relax, more Ben Folds and Badly Drawn Boy than Keane - contains a few good hooks and that can't-quite-place-it familiarity in the singer's tones. But the distinctive (read: Unique Selling Point, for the marketers present) is the mournful trumpet which flits in and out of the sparse mix and has any doubters who asked 'who?' when the bill was announced eating their words.

This isn't a question you might ask of Popup. Today is their hundredth gig (ever? this month?) but a rarity, as a drummer-less 3-piece. Though happily Adrienne is participating - I say happily less because of any predictable 'glamour' aspect (we can't see the band anyway) and more that her pure harmonies are one standout feature of Popup's music. Truth be told, the acoustic setup isn't perfect for them - it does showcase their versatility such as when bassist Michael joins them for a bass-and-vocals-only 'Stagecoach' - but the unplugged nature does stop them from, put simply, rocking out. Indeed, there are only so many songs they can strip down from their electric roots, so there's even a cover of 'All of Me', which works well enough. If they're to play another 100 gigs in the same short time then such diversions will hopefully keep them fresh.

James Yorkston is a man familiar with acoustic work, as you might expect from a Fence artist. Without his Athletes, this is a decidedly low-key set, to the point where, when he opens his set, half the audience don't even realise he..s taken the stage until a round of 'shhh' quietens the throng.
Later Yorkston joins in with the crowd-quietening measures - 'caught shushing at my own gig!' he chastens himself - but inbetween there's a period of calm, and hes able to run through 'Someplace Simple', invite a female backing singer onstage (lovely harmonies, dodgy whistling), and even fulfill a request, for 'A Friday Night In New York'.

There's also a cover of a song by some friends who, we're informed, ate down at the SECC supporting Placebo. This turns out to be the Archie Bronson Outfit..s ..Ballad For the Bleeding Hearts.. and works considerably better than the original. And better than the song which follows, owing to its being in 'A' and Yorkston's harmonica being in E flat minor. Moothie-wielding former Bluebell Ken McCluskey stumbles onstage in a bid to sort things out but the resulting yowl sound merely doubles the cat-strangulation quotient. Though it does have a sobering effect on the audience, which at this point in the proceedings, is just what was required.

Stuart McHugh (Is This Music?)

May 2006

"The Yellow Bentines weren’t short of audience appreciation either. A six-piece complete with trumpeters and a cameo appearance by a cow-bell, they were a piano-led ensemble purveying sprawling, melodic tunes. Reminiscent of Madness and high-tempo Ben Folds, this was emotive, heartfelt pop music with it’s influences worn defiantly on its sleeve. At times shambolic but always effective, this was a solid performance by a talented group of musicians."

April 2005

"Yellow Bentines 'And then there's you' (Self released demo).

There's something utterly feel good in the way these two Yellow Bentines cuts attach and connect to you. Maybe it's the rolling piano keys that underpin the compositions or the way the brass arrangements tweak to cloak the arrangements with a wintry aspect, whatever the reason there's an at odds tug underway where the apparent shine that lies deep at their heart are scratched with a hitherto downcast mood. But then those who like their pop a little uncluttered and removed of fussy trimmings may do well to hook up with this debut demo. Yellow Bentines are a Glaswegian quartet initially coming together as a side project to the Devotions until the latter called it a day and this rather nifty two-track demo serves as the ensembles debut release. 'And then there's you' is saturated with an enriched touch of Bruce Hornsby as though being invited to join an early out on the road working version of the Trash Can Sinatras, teeming with enough upbeat appeal as to suggest its brought the sun along in tow, mature, mellow, breezy and after a few spins impossible to walk away from. 'Pay Cheque' on the flip is the darker half, if 'and there's only you' was shading from the sunshine, then this brooding beauty is cowering beneath deep set overcast skies waiting for the inevitable storm to burst, and with that it's a more robust proposition as it squirms to a veritably more edgy and volatile backdrop that believe it or not lies somewhere between the Pale Fountains and a less fraught Micro Disney. Both cuts available as a free download (we are led to believe) from their website so now you have no excuse and nothing to lose, an ensemble to watch for methinks."

- Mark at (Losing Today)

March 2005

"Two songs (this is how much this e.p. offers) is not much to give an opinion, yet it's worth pointing you to this new Glasgow fivesome born from the ashes of The Devotions. As this record is one of the freshest things to have reached these shores of late. To be honest, it's nothing you've not heard before, 'cos these two tracks are filled with reminders of tens of bands, from the Beatles to the more obvious Belle And Sebastian (especially the trumpets in 'And Then There's You'), from a less-polished version of Keane (okay, let's go for Ben Folds Five) to, er, Nick Cave, or maybe XTC, or possibly The Go-Betweens, or even the Icicle Works. Here and there, reminders of the old and golden Glasgow rock from the 80's pop up (do you remember bands like The Senators, or Fire Next Time?) with a tinge of postmodernity which was still off limits at that time. It's actually the overall quality of the songwriting and the tunes to make an impression, as well as the balanced structure of the songs themselves, effectively built up into a strong piano-trumpet framework.
Two songs are not much, yet the Yellow Bentines -wherever the name comes from- are able to show shifting moods from one song to the other. Dark and nearly drunk (happily desperate) is 'Pay Cheque' -a four-minute epitaph for false believers?- bright and sober (desperately happy) is 'And Then There's You', a quirky torch song where her life will, and eventually won't, decimate his world. Enough said. Want to know what the heck this is all about? Go to the Yellow Bentines website and download the music (it's there; it's free). Then, like we're doing, wait for a proper album to know whether the future of Glasgow music will start looking sort of... yellow." (4/5)

- Max Malagnino (Rainsound)

October 2004

"Yellow Bentines, a band that has arisen out of former Glasgow act, The Devotions. A tight outfit, reminiscent of Ben Folds Five, with ‘Paycheck’ being a track particularly worthy of note."

- Eamonn Coyle (QMU)

September 2004

"ok, the Yellow Bentines are first. Let's get the bad stuff out of the way first it's a crap name! However, everything else is well - from good titles - 'The Person you Want Me To Be' and the earnestly heartfelt tunes contained within. Lovely piano. The Bentines are 2 guys, just piano and vocals, and this stripped-back setup is more likeable than Keane and perhaps as catchy. 'Freelance Hippy Girl' is in a similar vein, but can they sustain it over a load of songs? Time will tell."

- Miles O'Toole (Is This Music?)