Welcome to Off The Beaten Tracks, a musical project set in unusual surroundings. In our first ever outing, we’re thrilled to show off the fizzing art-pop of one of Edinburgh’s finest new bands Come On Gang, made all acoustic and velvety. Yum, yum, yum.

Musically, Edinburgh’s been in Glasgow’s shadow since… well, since pretty much forever, if we’re honest. With the honourable exceptions of Josef K and the Fire Engines, and despite a perennially buzzing but, um, “compact” musical scene, Edinburgh has never managed to become a hub of sound in the way Glasgow has. Instead, its cultural reputation is built on the titanic theatrical mess that is the Fringe and the International Festivals that swell the city to bursting point every August.

Recently though, there’ve been some exhilarating signs of musical life in the capital. Along with FOUND, Mersault and the recently-signed-to-4AD and soon-to-be-huuuge Broken Records, Come On Gang are right in amongst the buzzing melee of glorious noise coming out of Edinburgh – and, God bless ‘em – they gave up a Saturday afternoon on a blimming freezing January day to hang around outside a cafe in a strange alley off the Royal Mile to play some songs and watch us fumble around inexpertly with portable electronics. These are the results.

The first track, So Good Hold My Hand, was played outside The Deacon’s Cafe down Brodie’s Close, just off The Royal Mile. The site was once owned by Deacon Brodie – who we like for the fact that he invented a type of gallows on which he was eventually hanged – and was also formerly a barracks, a cut in the stone step where soldiers would sharpen their swords still remains. It is now a tearoom, run by the supernaturally patient Ivor, who graciously let us muck about outside and generally bring the tone down.

We did two tracks here, but – opting to avoid hypothermia – retired to bass player Trev’s flat, which in the fine tradition of Edinburgh’s tenements (and of course, Shallow Grave) has a huge bay window commanding views over the Firth Of Forth to Fife. We got a really stripped-down and slightly haunting version of Wood ForThe Trees for our efforts.

So – enjoy the tracks. If you’ve got a suggestions for a band, know of a strange location just crying out for a band to play in, or just want to say hi, drop us a line.

Come On Gang – Off The Beaten Facts

1. Come On Gang are made up of Mikey Morrison on guitar and Trev Courtney on Bass, with Sarah Tanat-Jones both singing and playing the drums
2. Mikey is Scottish, but in true Edinburgh fashion, the rest are immigrants to the city, Trev from Dublin and Sarah from Brighton
3. They reckon they never argue or have fights, but we think that’ll go out the window as soon as they go on tour properly
4. Trev thinks he can rap. To be fair, when he said hip, we did – in fact – say hop
5. Despite being a band that sounds like it has impeccably crafted influences, they say that there’s not a single band that all three of them like…
6. …in fact, they claim to be quite surprised at how the band turned out sounding
7. Live, they’ve played all over the place, and have moved in exactly the right circles, playing at T In The Park, and supporting Glasvegas and Florence And The Machine
8. They’ve released two singles so far, Wheels and Start The Sound. Both burst at the seams with joy and energy but don’t come close to the fizz of the live show
9. They’ve been invited to play at SXSW in Austin, Texas in March 2009, but they’ll be doing dates in Edinburgh and Liverpool before then
10. You can found out all you need to know at their Myspace