Goodbye Mr Mackenzie

Goodbye Mr Mackenzie are back at The Glasgow Barrowland Ballroom on Friday 11 December, and there's a specific reason for the return. They're playing their debut album, Good Deeds and Dirty Rags, in its entirety to mark its 30th anniversary. It's the record that started it all for them, and hearing it run from start to finish in one go is a different thing from picking out a few favourites.

If the name doesn't ring a bell, it's worth a look back. They were one of Scotland's most distinctive alternative bands of the 1980s and 90s, known for dramatic, high-energy live shows and songwriting that tended towards the intelligent and the darkly poetic. While a lot of their Scottish contemporaries were looking to soul or Steely Dan, they drew from the Pixies and The Birthday Party — a noisier, more jagged kind of influence that set them apart from the crowd.

Good Deeds and Dirty Rags came out in 1989 and entered the UK charts at No.16, the first of six albums. From there they toured extensively, supporting Blondie and Aztec Camera. The band was led by Martin Metcalfe, and the line-up included Shirley Manson, who went on to front Garbage, and Big John Duncan of The Exploited. Later they recorded as Angelfish in the US with Manson on vocals, supporting the Ramones and releasing an album produced by Talking Heads' Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth. Metcalfe, Derek Kelly and Fin Wilson continued on as Isa & the Filthy Tongues.

So the night is built around that first record, played through from start to finish. It's a chance to hear the whole thing as it was meant to be heard, rather than just the bits that usually make the set. Tickets are £32.45, and the show starts at 7:00 PM at the Barrowland, 244 Gallowgate, Glasgow City Centre G4 0TT.