Have You Heard? // The Social Services

Two Scots and a Swede are snowed in with some second-hand instruments one night, and… they decide to form a band.

As a joke, the incident described leaves much to be desired. But as the story of The Social Services‘ musical genesis, it marks the start of something beautiful.

Forming in Stockholm in 2007 as the creative union of Glaswegians Emma Naismith and Lucy Cathcart with Scandinavian drummer Martin Frödén, The Social Services returned to Glasgow at the end of last year, recruited multi-instrumentalist Neal Breakey and turned their hands to the arduous task of being a cheery, lighthearted indie pop band in the frigid climes of Scotland.

Rejecting the guitar’s traditional dominance in favour of the more retro piano-led sound, the band’s 2008 debut It’s Nothing Personal, It’s National Security is nothing short of delightful. The overall sound, however, is led by the vocal harmonies. Naismith and Cathcart’s voices, with their distinct Scottish accents and gently melodic intonation, complement one another particularly well, and when layered over the band’s diverse and carefully-arranged instrumentation it becomes something quite remarkable.

The Social Services’ songwriting formula is a curious mixture of wistful nostalgia, hard-edged observations and witty turns-of-phrase à la The Divine Comedy. On ‘The Baltic Sea’, they extol Sweden’s virtues but rue the perceived coldness of its people, while on ‘Up In Arms’ they turn their sights on the thorny topic of war and torture. This eccentric musical alchemy reaches its apex on ‘Seven Dwarves’, a joyous reaffirmation of human life couched as a pep-talk for the diminutive fairytale characters.

This combination of lyrical versatility and all-out musical virtuosism makes listening to The Socal Services a genuinely pleasurable experience. At the risk of a trite analogy, think God Help The Girl without the twee, or Regina Spektor writing social commentary. However you summarise it, The Social Services are a pop band who know what they’re about.

The Social Services - 'The Baltic Sea'

The Social Services gig regularly in Edinburgh and Glasgow, and are currently working on their second album. They play King Tut’s in Glasgow on 26th July, as part of that venue’s Summer Nights series, and as part of an impossibly excellent lineup featuring Admiral Fallow, Three Blind Wolves and Olympic Swimmers.

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Summer Nights @ King Tut’s, Glasgow