Sister Madds – Are You Hungry?
Released with a flourish at a celebratory sold out gig in King Tuts Wah Wah Hut one of Glasgow’s hottest properties Sister Madds unveiled their debut EP Are You Hungry? much to the delight of a devoted following in the heaving venue. The band never cease to impress on stage and in their recorded output, the four songs on this EP forming the latest chapter in the band’s story, a culmination of their hard work following a string of striking single releases. The band are living proof of the old work hard, play hard adage, putting their heart and soul into every live performance, and road testing their songs live before committing them to tape. The band teased us a couple of weeks ahead of the EP release with the lead single Table Manners, with Maddie using the allegory of food to make a barbed attack on the modern world of online dating and relationships, one of all take and no give. The lyrics are biting and delivered with a humorous tongue in cheek acid-tongued brio, taking aim and not missing her target, while the band create a suitable riff laden maelstrom of noise as a backdrop to the controlled chaos
At a time when the manosphere is never far from the headlines, Get Rich, Get Girls, You’ll be Happy takes aim at blokes with inflated egos, and all the posturing and materialism that goes with it, Maddie isn’t impressed “sit down you’re broken” she spits with thinly veiled disdain as the pointed lyrics continue into one of my personal live favourites, a highly infectious tune with a boundless bouncing energy seals the deal. Thanks to the arrangement and production on these songs, they really capture the high spirited intensity and vitality of a Sister Madds live show, none more so than on the magnificent Nepobaby, crunching guitar riffs build along with Maddie’s levels of exasperation “oh no wait it’s happened again, it’s fucking nepotism” before a glorious melee of guitars, bass and drums crash out a turbulent mid song break.
The EP closes out on a real high as Maddie shows her tender side on the final song of the EP, with the soaring anthem No Longer Leaving, an optimistically buoyant number that has her confirming here roots are now well and truly “Dear Mr Green Place I’m no longer leaving.” Don’t worry Maddie, we’ve well and truly claimed you as one of us. This debut EP cements Sister Madds as one of Glasgow’s ones to watch. Watch this space, bigger and better things continue to beckon for this band.
Sister Madds song Hot and Bothered features on the forthcoming (yes I know, I’ve been saying that for long enough…) Ginger Quiff CD release, You Are Here – The New Sound of Scotland. Details of how to order will come as soon as I have the CDs in my grubby mitts…
The Jackal IV – Songs From the Bunker
After the tragic and sudden death of their drummer Andy Gailey, The Jackal IV returned to the fray in February with an new 4 track EP, Songs From the Bunker. Many will know Andy from The Jackal IV and previously in The Goldenhour, I personally knew him in his first drumming role, as I played the bagpipes in the same BB pipe band as he played in. After a lot of deliberation, The Jackal IV rightly came to the conclusion that the best tribute to Andy would be to continue the band, and so Derek McKee joined Neil and Stevie with this EP being the first fruits of their labours.
The EP announces it’s arrival in raucous style with Caroline Says and in doing so the trio set out their stall for what is to follow, four fiercely energetic and boisterously gutsy slices of emotive garage rock. Each subsequent song takes the lead from it’s predecessor and somehow ups the stakes each time. As Caroline Says fades, the incessant driving riffs at the start of Trident give way to a Duane Eddy-esque melody and the potency of the crushing guitar lines and pulverising rhythm section leave you breathless. There is no time for recovery as Soul Food notches up the tempo once again, it’s thundering staccato intro yielding to a melody that barrels along at pace before the vigorously defiant I Will Not Be a Prisoner kicks in to close the EP in style with some impressive machine gun drumming. I’m sure Andy would approve.
Clay Rings – Day After Day
The 4-track Day After Day EP is the latest release from Scottish/Spanish indie/alt-rock band Clay Rings who first caught my attention with their sublime Blue-Boy’s Dream single. Having drip-fed interest in the EP with a series of cracking singles, the EP brings these songs; At Nathan’s House, Yes Father (Again?)) and the EP’s title track together along with what may well be the pick of the bunch for me in No Zombie’s in Venice.
At Nathan’s House opens the EP in style with chipper sassy guitar lines atop a babble of house party noise before relatable teasing and playful lyrics in a male/female to and fro vocal play out the fears and doubts and drink getting in the way of the age old boy meets girl scenario. The sound of the two vocals melding together in perfect harmony in the chorus is one of utter joy. Ultimately, the song is a lot of fun and the little hidden Easter Eggs bring a smile as you listen, such as the boo following the line about the hockey player from France. Perhaps my favourite song of the four is No Zombies in Venice, there is so much to unpick about the song, I’d never do it justice. The carefully selected instruments, from guitar to fiddle to trumpet and beyond matching the mood of the song parts, the lush melody and sounds that create the perfect backdrop to the lyrical tale, the riotously joyful mid-song change in pace, everything comes together in one impeccably flawless package.
Day After Day has a bluesy feel both musically and in its mood, it’s lyrical theme of just making it from one day to another and working out what you want from life, there is a polished melancholic symmetry between words and music before the song closes out with a glorious instrumental zenith. The EP ends with their laidback sunshine swathed Spanish language single Yes Father (Again?), opening with delicately strummed Spanish guitar, before the 1-2-3-4 call to action has the band come together in rapturously effusive style. An EP to listen to when you need an injection of positivity, this collection is sure to lift the spirits.
Cowboy Hunters – EPeePee
From the sublime to the irreverent with Cowboy Hunters and their 5-track EPeePee, this collection of songs definitely comes under the NSFW category as the profane duo bring their not one fuck given attitude to their thunderous bass/drum trash punk. The EP kicks off with their anthem to hedonism, single Have a Pint, suggesting that “everything’s fucked” and the solution is to get totally mashed, or should I say “cunted,” in their own inimitable style Cowboy Hunters tackle the rise of the racist right, and their bizarre habits of painting roundabouts and hanging flags from lampposts on Shag Slags Not Flags, taking aim at keyboard warriors who fuel their life’s with ragebait and attacking those who dare to “cross a line on a map.”
The reckless irreverence continues into Cuntry Girl which is probably the song with the second most references to the c-word, only exceeded by Lambrini Girls Cunty, while Money for Drugs weighs up the here and now need for the purchases indicated in the title with the long term worth of holding onto the items to be sold. The last track on the EP has a solid clamorous bassline underlying the chorus, the gritty realism of a dystopian future called out plainly, “everythings going to be alright….?” – “nah – we’re up here singing fuck that, give it 2 years you’ll be back nickin’ dust caps.” Given the state of the world right now, they might be right…
(Note: the track order on the CD/Bandcamp appears to be different than on Tidal…)
The New Cut – Sleepers, Mourners
Having featuring in a couple of previous singles round ups, Bristol-based indie/post punk quartet released their debut EP in March. The first of the 6 songs Oversight blends sonorous soaring guitar lines with a fervent driving rhythm and rounds everything off with a frantically delivered chorus, 2025 single And As Always takes over, at it’s core it has an almost goth-like hypnotic bass line topped off with discordant staccato guitars, the hypnotic feel of the song reflected in the mesmeric harmonies that break up the verses. The angular post punk of Valuable Customer take a humorous aim at the increasing move towards self-service in supermarkets and the turning of customer to commodity, the sharp incisive mood of Valuable Customer continues into CHRS PCKHM.
London, Out There has an altogether more laidback vibe with a more reflective feel to the lyrics, which despairs at the continuing sprawl of cities into the countryside. The EP feels like a journey from the high intensity of the opening songs through the jarring post punk of the mid EP songs through London, Out There to closer Arnos Vale which picks up on the reflective nature of its predecessor both in it’s lyrics and in the nature of the melody, the journey coming full circle as mid-song Arnos Vale it opens up into a vast soundscape of distorted squealing guitars.