Mull Historical Society is, for all intents and purposes, Colin McIntyre (son of late BBC political correspondent Kenneth McIntyre), featuring his bass player Alan Malloy and two session musicians for live purposes (a drummer and keyboardist).  Having briefly caught the band's Reading Festival performance this year and heard a John Peel session in October, I had vague memories of a confident and slightly nasally sounding singer, and some extremely strong (and catchy melodies).

MHS (as I shall refer to them from now on) appeared fairly late onstage (10:20) to a half full Wedgewood Rooms, and played an hour's set.  What struck me straight away, was that for a band who I thought I'd heard very little by, how many songs I'd already been familiarized with - mainly thanks to John Peel's radio show, I'd imagine - their infectiousness is rivalled only by this winter's inevitable 'flu epidemic.

The result of seeing this gig - as I write about it the following afternoon - was that I quite literally rushed out to HMV in between my lectures to grab a copy of the debut album 'Loss', which has been out for two weeks, and has received generally favourable reviews in the UK music press.

Colin McIntyre originates from the island of Mull in western Scotland, and somehow the songs seem to convey a sense of what it must be like to be brought up on an isolated island.  Some quite melancholic and indulgent topics are covered in the lyrics (it's a brave man that sings "hold on to loneliness" without it seeming self-piteous), yet the uplifting music belies the depth of the words.

Every track from 'Loss' featured in the almost continuous setlist, with only occasional breaks between songs, and no encore - but the hour-long set was more than enough to impress.  Colin's voice carries much better live than it does on record (he can sound a little tinny on the album), and I don't think he hit a flat note all night.  A wide selection of keyboard sounds and effects complimented the tunes, but I was left wondering if they were playing over a pre-recorded or sampled backing track, as there were backing vocals and extra synth sounds coming from an otherwise invisible source.

Wedgewood Rooms gigs are well known for featuring up-and-coming bands that later go on to gain international fame and fortune, but I'm not sure if MHS will gain such a status.  Colin's songwriting is of a "traditional" pop style, including occasional flirts with seventies chords progressions and riffs (is that a nod to Abba in the structure and melody of 'Watching Xanadu'?).  Colin McIntyre apparently has a wealth of songs written and ready to record, so I wouldn't expect to wait long for a follow up album - but I'd imagine they'll be in a similar "melodic indie" style (which won't be a bad thing in this case).

Review: Andrew Morrison