Fresh blood; They like rioting, looting and Irvine Welsh. They are

SINCE the demise of Nirvana and the wilful retreat into obscurity of Pearl Jam, American hard rock has been in a state of crisis. Three- chord pranksters like Blink-182 and Limp Bizkit might have hit a lucrative vein of mindless riffery - all pro wrestling, pornography and slam-dancing - but there seems to be precious little soul in their pogo anthems. Thankfully, concurrent to the MTV-powered rise of these sports-metal bands, in the past year there's been another intriguing trend. "Intelligent" rock bands like Queens Of The Stone Age and At The Drive-In have been packaged by critics as the real future of rock'n'roll; bands wise to the clanging power of Metallica but witty, wired and wily with it.

And at the forefront of this prickly new wave are And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead, four young Texan guitar-slingers armed with sneers, Manic Street Preachers-esque sloganeering and a combative stage presence. Influential US mag Spin's Year 2000 preview described their sound as "a head-melting skree; equal parts Texas rawk swagger and Pacific Northwest post-punk thunder". And it's a racket that seems to be going down well over here; Trail Of Dead have been fted by UK critics too, and not just on the strength of their gleeful mouthful of a name.

BUT the band's latest visit to these shores - the umpteenth this year, scheduled for a month ago - had to be postponed at the last minute after trouble flared at a gig in San Antonio. The precise details are unclear, but an official Trail Of Dead statement declared: "Fighting broke out during the show and continued afterwards outside the club. The band were left cut and bruised, and without a large amount of their equipment, having used their guitars to defend themselves against attackers. The band subsequently have no equipment and police inquiries to face, making it impossible for them to leave the USA."

Soon after, guitarist Neil Busch described the gig as "a historical re-enactment of the Alamo; our guitars were like flintlocks against the innumerable enemy. We had to make a choice - run or die trying to defend our honour. We made our decision, now it's up to the law to decide."

Ignoring their assured grasp of the power of rock self- mythologising for a second, the statements do typify the twin strengths of the band: provoking extreme reactions wherever they go and a sly sense of humour. But what really happened at that San Antonio show? Drummer Jason Reece attempts another explanation: "Yeah, we had to deal with some thugs in San Antonio, but we dealt with them swiftly with the harsh blows of our mighty swords. There are a few bad apples on the planet, and some of them happened to be at that show and they were causing problems. They started throwing bottles at us, so we took our guitars and pummelled them violently, and the law didn't like that. The police don't like it when you defend yourselves with heavy objects that cause a lot of damage. I mean, we didn't mean to put them in hospital, but we had to do something."

Of course this, along with everything spilling from the Trail Of Dead's mouths, should be taken with a massive pinch of salt; they have an acute sense of the ridiculous and love to wind up interviewers. But your average Trail Of Dead show is truly an exhilarating but volatile event. Their appearance at Glasgow Green earlier this year was jeopardised when Reece injured his hand during a rowdy London show a few days before. And even though they managed to perform, guitarist and singer Conrad Keely required stitches in his head after an enthusiastic altercation with a drum stand.

Strangely, these escapades haven't put them off Scotland, especially our own homegrown leftfield sonic terrorists Mogwai. "Our tour manager is from Glasgow," explains Keely, "and one time we met all the kids from Mogwai because they were lending us their equipment. So we kinda just fell in with a group of people from Glasgow." He does sound a mite cautious, though. "I'm certainly looking forward to the shows," he says, "but I'm a bit anxious about the weather. It's not going to be the summer weather we enjoyed earlier this year, so we'll need to pack for warmth. What do people do during the winter there?"

Their enthusiasm for all things Scottish even extends to a love of our literature and - let's face it - rock bands aren't usually famous for their cultural taste. "I was reading this book recently called Children of Albion Rovers," enthuses Keely. "My God! It was so good! Especially the last story by Irvine Welsh. That was definitely some of the best writing I've read in a while, it's just funny as hell, so hilarious to read. I'd love to check out some more of that stuff." So, besides snuffling around Waterstone's while over here, what else have the band got planned? Back to drummer Reece: "We're gonna hook up with Mogwai and we're gonna go and find some places to loot - you know some rich people's homes - and take their money. Mogwai and Trail Of Dead are gonna build a studio together and we need to fund it somehow."

Trying to project a dangerous, rock'n'roll image is one of the first things any guitar band worth its salt should do, and as their soundbites show, Trail Of Dead already have it sussed. But with their incendiary live shows and recent album Madonna - the first available in the UK - they also showcase an ability to create rock that's exciting at a gut-wrenchingly basic level but still able to engage the mind.

But, of course, they won't hear talk of an intelligent rock movement going on in the States. "Nationally, I don't feel we're part of any scene here in America," says Keely. "We definitely don't sound like anyone else, and we strive to create stuff that's out there on its own." They claim to listen to everything from drum'n'bass to gospel to death metal and back again. "We take our influences from just about anything," says Keely. "If all we listened to was rock we'd probably be a pretty boring f***ing band, you know?"

You could never accuse And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead of being boring. And as long as their obvious love of classic rock theatrics and posturing image doesn't eventually overshadow their musical vitality - a real danger since the San Antonio incident - they might be just the band to truly resurrect US rock.

And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead play King Tut's Wah Wah Hut, Glasgow on November 28 and the Liquid Rooms, Edinburgh on November 29. They also support Foo Fighters at The Corn Exchange, Edinburgh on December 13 and at Barrowland, Glasgow on December 14

MINI PROFILE:

Texan punks And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead are at the forefront of a new explosion of intelligent rock bands emanating from the USA. Their latest Scottish tour was delayed in the aftermath of a near-riot at a show in San Antonio.

www.trailofdead.com

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