DRAGON’S CROWNPS3 £36.99, PS Vita £32.99

THE CAVEiOS, Free

MOGA PRO CONTROLLER/POCKET CONTROLLER£39.99/£29.99, Android only

NEW MUSICBy JIM GELLATLY

WAITING ON JACKWHO: Ross Meiklem (vocals/guitar), Oliver Gardner (gui-tar), Fraser Hurndall (bass),Jack Meiklem (drums)WHERE: DundeeFOR FANS OF: Twin Atlantic,We Were Promised Jetpacks,The XcertsJIM SAYS: Indie rockersWaiting On Jack come of agewith their latest single Lath-risk, remixed by GordonSkene from Frightened Rab-bit. Ross told me: “We’venever actually met Gordonbut he is a fan of the trackand wanted to work with it.”The name Waiting For Jackcomes from the drummer’sbad timekeeping. Ross said:“Jack was always late forrehearsals, even when wepracticed in his own bed-room!” It was there that theMeiklem bothers first formedthe band. Ross said “Itstarted out with us makingmusic in our bedroom withsome old equipment for a bitof fun. We met Fraser andOliver at high school and weall had similar interests. Itgelled straight away. Weseem to complement eachother both in the practiceroom and onstage.” Origi-nally from Ladybank in Fife,the band are now based inDundee. Oliver said “I thinkwe will always feel like a Fifeband. There was just somuch influence from localbands when we were firststarting out. Bands likeTango In The Attic, Sergeantand The Manikees.” A move

to the city has paid dividendsfor the guys, even if the Dun-dee scene isn’t as high profileas it once was. Ross said:“People don’t really seem tobe as interested in attendinggigs in Dundee as they oncewere. But there is definitelynot a lack of talented bandsand artists breaking throughat the moment with a fewbands from the city makinglast year’s T In The Parkline-up. Hopefully the scenewill start to get back some ofthat buzz.” Waiting On Jackmay just be the band to putDundee back in the spotlight.Lathrisk is a track I’ve beenspinning on my weekly show-case on digital station Amaz-ing Radio for some time now.It’s certainly one of my favour-ites at the moment. Packedfull of youthful energy, itcomes compete with a crack-ing video. Ross said: “Lath-risk is the name of this littleback road by Oliver’s house.It’s a short but sweet indiepop track about a girl and thekind of things that happen atthe start of a relationship. Wefilmed our video with RJAHFilms and it features friendNicola McInnes. They bothdid a great job. We’re verypleased with it.”Waiting On Jack launch

Lathrisk next Friday at Busk-ers in Dundee.MORE: facebook.com/waitin-gonjackQ Jim will be playing Waiting OnJack on In:Demand Uncut this Sun-day from 7pm on Clyde 1, Forth One,Northsound 1, Radio Borders, TayFM, West FM & West Sound FM. Seeindemandscotland.co.uk

4.5

ByCHRIS

SWEENEY

DO you yearn for the days of old, for a bit ofstripped-down gaming without all the OTTshooting, explosions and destruction?Well, Vanillaware is looking to give you what

you want with this old-school RPG beat ’em up.It’s a simple format. Dragon’s Crown places

you as one of six playable characters, each ofwhom uses their unique skills and abilities to com-plete quests. The Town acts as your hub, givingyou somewhere easily accessible to save yourgame, accept challenges, and buy or sell items.

Dragon’s Crown has a real feel of nostalgia to it –taking influence from some of the best beat ’emup classics, while maintaining its own identity.But what stands out above everything else is

the game’s utterly irresistible good looks. Assuch, it will appeal to new and old players alike.Beautiful and enjoyable, this is a gem well

worthy of its crown. JN

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ES2W

ATC

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LOVE mobile gaming buthate using clunkytouchscreen controls?The MOGA promises to be theperfect tool for gaming on the go.Connect an Android phone ortablet to the MOGA using Blue-tooth, then download the MOGAapp to play a wide range of gamesusing a full controller.You can lock your phone inplace with a clamp that folds intothe controller when not beingused, making it easier to play.But tablets will have to bepropped up on something whileyou play them. While this effect-ively stops you gaming on themove, the controller still improvesthe experience.With four shoulder buttons, adirectional pad, dual analoguesticks, four action buttons, startand select, the MOGA Pro is ascomplete a package as any consolecontroller. It is fully rechargeable,

works with hi-def games, and evenoffers multiplayer if you havemore than one controller.Plus, it works as a power packto charge your phone.But beware — the cheaperMOGA Pocket is battery poweredand does not offer a D-pad (up-down-left-right).Not every Android game is com-patible but there are about 500 tobe getting on with, modern —GTA: Vice City, AVP Evolution —alongside classics such as Pac-Man.As a gaming experience, theMOGA mostly lives up to its prom-ises. The controls are usually tightand it makes mobile gaming easier.Games such as GTA are lessdifficult to play and massivelymore fun. FPS titles turn fromalmost unplayable to totallybrilliant. However, it’s sometimes

d i f f i c u l tt o t e l lwhich ofthe control-ler’s buttonscorrespond towhich function, as that is neverexplained. Annoyingly, it alsotakes a minute to connect to yourphone or tablet ahead of eachgaming session and will occasion-ally have problems locating yourdevice. And in some games you

have to touch the screen to get ridof ads, even when you are usingthe controller.The MOGA is not for everyone.If you don’t do a lot of mobilegaming, or mostly play CandyCrush, there is no need to splashout on one.But if you like to play “propergames” and spend a lot of time onthem, this is worth the investmentfor the new lease of life it willbring to your gaming library. MQ

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AFTER proving popular on consoles and PC, The Cave hascome to the iPad.The laughs and puzzles we enjoyed first time around are

all here. This is the same great game, just in your hands.In the cave you choose three characters from a possible

seven. Each character has their own story-based puzzlearea, allowing for multiple replays.Touch controls rarely change the game other than just the

way you interact. So if you played the first time, there’s noneed for a re-run, but if it’s your first time, your iPad is asgood a place as any to play. LP

GAME LIKE PRO ON GO

INDIE boys Peace have had abusy year — thanks to hitdebut album In Love.

And they’re keeping thepedal to the metal, right to theend of 2013.

They’ve got a UK tour toclose out the year and the onlyScots show is at Glasgow’sQMU on November 30.

Get tickets frompeaceforeverever.co.uk

ONE2HEARAMOS Nelson and Rich Beanland, akaWaifs & Strays, have been one of thesuccess stories in underground dancemusic of the past few years.

After emerging with an ebullienthouse sound, Body Shiver was therousing, strident, electro-tinged housecut that really set Jamie Jones’ Fabricmix alight in 2011.

Since then they have cropped up onHot Creations and Futureboogie withmore hot jams, always helping todefine the sound. Amos says: “Bristol

has always been a great city formusic. There have been major actssuch as Julio Bashmore and EatsEverything emerge as global stars.

“Right now the scene is still just asthriving, with new sets of producersand DJs coming through all the time.”

Modest to the end, the duo havehelped put Bristol back on the club-bing map thanks to their DJ scheduletaking them across Europe, the USand the festival scene. Although theyreleased little this summer – you can

understand given their tour diaries –they tell us that is all about to change.

Rich says: “We have our EP on Hei-di’s Jackathon Jams – a collaborationwith Futureboogie label mate Lukas.

“It’s a four-track EP with one of thetracks being a remix from DJ Sneak –we are really excited.”

Head to thesun.co.uk/clubz to listento exclusive mixes from Waifs &Strays and DeMarzo, plus more fromTrade DJs Smokin Jo and The SharpBoys, Bill Brewster, Jay Lumen.

ONE2SEEBANKS is an artist you canreally connect with.

The rapper is so keen tospeak to fans, her personalmobile number is on herFacebook page.

That’s a brave move.The LA girl makes classy, low

key hip-hop with a dark edge.Check out current single This

Is What It Feels Like athernameisbanks.com.

RECORD deal signed. EltonJohn managing yourcareer. Snappy set ofsongs.It look liked nothingcould go wrong for KatieSutherland — but it did.She got off to a flyer, asPearl & The Puppets, butafter being dropped by Univer-sal in the United States, Katiestarted over under her ownname.Katie, 26, said: “When art-ists are dropped, they try andget their masters back.“Quite a lot of the time, Ihave stuff popping up in TVcommercials, so it’s importantto own your masters.“So I thought once theydropped me, let’s get my mas-ters and have a clean slate.“My publisher called me inand said I should go back tothe roots and do it my ownway.”Kirkintilloch girl Kate wasrattled after being dropped,but now she is enjoying call-ing the shots.Katie admitted: “Whenyou’re struck down like that,you think, ‘oh no, I’m on myown’. Then you realise, there’sso many people that are sup-portive.”Changing name wasn’t a bigdeal for Katie as she didn’treally get to pick the first oneanyway. She said: “Someonehad described my vocals as a

pearl. I liked it, so we wentwith that for awhile.“Then I had to do a show-case for labels, so we bookeda gig — and I got an emailwith the lineup and it was allheavy metal bands.“The promoter thought Iwas Meatloaf’s daughter asshe’s called Pearl.“I was told I couldn’t use it,so had to add The Puppets.“A lot of fans already knewmy real name anyway. I neversaid my name was Pearl.“At least now, it’s prettysimple who I am and whatI’m doing.”She now has her seconddebut single — Canvas — com-ing out on November 18, andan album due next year.Katie said: “Everything fromsongwriting to what I wantthe video to look like is downto me now.“It’s amazing to go into thestudio and not have anyoneon the phone saying ‘can youchange this?’”Even though thing’s didn’tpan out with Elton John, she’sgot nothing but respect forthe Rocket Man.Katie added: “Elton’s lawyermade sure I wasn’t diving intosomething I wasn’t ready for.“They did look after me. Itjust wasn’t the path for meand the parting was amica-ble.”Q Katie plays The MackintoshChurch in Glasgow on November2. See katiesutherland.co.uk

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