2023 - The Ginger Quiff

Jacoby – Shamanic Ecstasy – album review

June 15, 2023 By neilho27@sky.com

Following in the footsteps of previous incarnation, The Rising, Tommy Overington continues to soar, riding the breeze and catching the thermals as new band Jacoby revel in Shamanic Ecstasy, their debut long player featuring singles Freedom Ain’t No Sin and Do the Right Thing. But just what is Shamanic Ecstasy?

“In Shamanism, the ecstatic experience connotes a state of bliss, transcendence, and communion with the sacred. Shamans utilize techniques such as journeying, trances, and altered states of consciousness to achieve ecstatic experiences” Bob Waxman (Ph.D.)

When you boil that down, it’s pretty much what I want from music. I want it to take me to a state of bliss, to transcend and alter my state of consciousness taking me on a journey to another place and time in my mind.… Read the rest

Carol Hodge – live house party gig

June 11, 2023 By neilho27@sky.com

This year seems to be the year for unusual gig locations. Having seen The Courettes play for prisoners in Barlinnie earlier in the year, this time round it was my namesake, Carol Hodge, playing a private house party to which I was fortunate enough to receive an invite, making up for the fact I missed her gig with Ginger Wildheart the night before due to my double (actually triple) booking of gigs and being at The Beat and Bow Wow Wow in Glasgow Barrowland.

First thing to say is kudos to Carol for doing such a thing. She mentioned it herself, playing a gig like this.… Read the rest

The Beat/Bow Wow Wow – live in Barrowland

June 10, 2023 By neilho27@sky.com

For some reason I have never witnessed The Beat live. Just one of these things, the planets never aligned. I assumed with the death of Ranking Roger my chance had gone, but not so, with Dave Wakeling bringing his version of The Beat to Glasgow Barrowland. I’ll admit I had a slight concern about the crowd filling the Ballroom, having seen one of the ticket filler companies selling tickets for around a fiver earlier on in the week. Not great news for those who had already paid full price but the approach seemed to work, while the gig wasn’t sold out, it was a healthy sized crowd.… Read the rest

Teenage Waitress – Your Cuckoo – album review

June 7, 2023 By neilho27@sky.com

Your Cuckoo is the Teenage Waitress follow up to stunning debut album Love & Chemicals, one of my albums of the year in 2020. Three years on and (the young) Daniel Ash has once again pulled out all the stops and created what is highly likely to be my album of the summer, as it is, it has already been an essential soundtrack to the last couple of weeks unseasonably good weather for Glasgow. Maybe this album was a conduit for that…

…if not, it has certainly been a conduit in playing a part in helping maintain my upbeat mood and general positivity, plugging in my headphones and listening to the songs on Your Cuckoo providing the musical background to my working day, not quite making problems disappear but giving me the right attitude to deal with them.… Read the rest

Buzz Cutz Pt 3 – Lambrini Girls, Ex-, Big Girls Blouse, Casual Worker – EP reviews

June 5, 2023 By neilho27@sky.com

Buzz Cutz Part 3 is the latest in an irregular regular series of short, sharp reviews in an attempt to catch on a backlog of releases…. so without further ado, Lambrini Girls have something to say.

Lambrini Girls – You’re Welcome EP

You’re Welcome is a lesson, nay a warning for all homophobes, transphobes, Terfs, sexists, toxic males, dinosaurs in the music industry, white van men, and generally just those who are too stupid to understand a way of life that doesn’t fit their own narrow blinkered view (case in point, extraordinary single – Help Me I’m Gay)… I could go on, you name it, they’re a target for Lambrini Girls and fuck me, they don’t miss their targets.… Read the rest

Brenda – live in the Hug and Pint with Hound and Pozi

June 3, 2023 By neilho27@sky.com

In a typical turn of events in the Glasgow gig world, I could have been in (at least) two places at once tonight with two of Glasgow’s best new(ish) bands playing at the same time in different parts of the city. I’d bought a ticket to see Brenda supporting Pozi in The Hug and Pint before Junk Pups announced they were supporting Sister Madds at their single launch in Nice n Sleazy. I did do some research on the possibilities of seeing both, but time travel isn’t yet a thing…

Let’s just say, the Glasgow music scene is in fine fettle with bands like Junk Pups and Brenda winning new followers every day alongside bands like Watermachine, Tina Sandwich, Sacred Noise, Brontes, Big Girls Blouse, Pizza Crunch, Casual Worker, Pedalo, Parliamo, Static, Bin Juice, the aforementioned Sister Madds, Dark Amadeus’s and Goodbody to name a few.… Read the rest

The Bathers, Sister John & The Cowboy Mouth – LNFG triple bill – live review

May 29, 2023 By neilho27@sky.com

This was the second weekend in a row I took in a triple bill of Last Night From Glasgow acts, having been wowed the previous Friday by the album launch show for Slime City in the excellent St Luke’s and the Winged Ox venue, a gig also featuring bis and Casual Worker.

Converted churches seem to be order of the day, this time round Websters Theatre in the city’s West End hosting the trio of Graham Skinner and Douglas McIntyre’s The Cowboy Mouth, the band who have the prestige of being LNFG’s first album release, Sister John and, as I once saw them billed, a seminal Glasgow band, The Bathers.… Read the rest

Lusty – I’m Going To Make Your Death All About Me – album review

May 27, 2023 By neilho27@sky.com

If you check in regularly with the the blog, you’ll be familiar with the music of Alex Lusty. The bequiffed tattooed rapper having appeared many times in his various guises on these pages. Most recently for the farewell from rap/rock/punk crossover band Rats From a Sinking ship, and in a variety of guises from Happy Martyr to Frigid Vinegar and Halfway People..

This solo outing from Lusty, while undoubtedly a Lusty release, is an emotional punch to the guts. Musically, a massive departure from Rats From A Sinking Ship. Stark and minimalistic, with heartbreakingly beautiful arrangements, reflecting the mood and the affecting and impactful nature of the album.… Read the rest

The Magic Sponge – The Heart is a Suspect Device – album review

May 27, 2023 By neilho27@sky.com

The latest album from The Magic Sponge was released at the beginning of the month. The band have featured on these pages several times over the years due to the striking nature of their albums and their unique brand of quirky leftfield guitar pop. The Heart is a Suspect Device is no exception to this, once again the band coming up with the goods, and sharing an album packed full of instant earworms, and of course captivating the listener with their usual intriguing selection of song subjects and lyrical couplets, I’m pretty sure The Magic Sponge must be the only band to have written about theologian, geologist and palaeontologist William Buckfield.… Read the rest

The Primitives – live in Broadcast

May 21, 2023 By neilho27@sky.com

The last time The Primitives played Broadcast, the venue was, at best, half full. This time round though, the gig was a sell out, maybe this was partly the Saturday night effect, but whatever the reason, I made sure I was there early to get a good spot, having been at sell out gigs in the venue before and getting stuck somewhere I could see virtually nothing.

The only gripe I had about this was, I was standing around looking like a lemon for what seemed like hours. Despite the ticket saying doors at 7, show starts 8, it was another 45 minutes after that before The Primitives took to the stage.… Read the rest