1990s

Photo: Roger Sargent

Union Pool; Tue 31
Mercury Lounge; Wed 1
The Annex (Club NME); Aug 2

During the decade that bears his band’s name, 1990s singer-guitarist Jackie McKeown led the Yummy Fur, a Glasgow indie group that briefly included future Franz Ferdinand members Alex Kapranos and Paul Thomson. McKeown doesn’t share Franz Ferdinand’s affinity for sleek British guitar pop geared toward dance floors. His work is shaggier, less frigid and, despite a car commercial’s lease on 1990s song “You’re Supposed to Be My Friend,” less mainstream. If McKeown considers his station anything but a blessing, however, he isn’t letting on. “My cult status keeps me alive,” he sings toward the top of 1990s’ debut album, Cookies (Rough Trade). “My cult status keeps me fucking your wife!”

Cult and cuckolding status notwithstanding, 1990s, who also include drummer Michael McGaughrin and former Yummy Fur bassist Jamie McMorrow, exhibit a flair for anthemic rock songs. On record, McKeown has muffled his accent—it creeps into the songs onstage—but the trio’s Scottish humor remains intact. “Why don’t you try taking drugs again? You were never funnier than you were back then,” begins “Weed,” which may or may not be about Robin Williams. In “Pollokshields,” the band chirps, “Chelsea Hotel didn’t ring my bell—I’d rather be in Pollokshields,” a tranquil Glasgow suburb where Sid Vicious never stabbed anybody. And in “Risque Pictures,” McKeown boasts of maintaining a “personality up to eleven.” The song is addressing a romantic rival—but it proves an apt précis of 1990s’ charm, on record and stage alike.