Category: Post punk

Summer Nights Warm Up – Alcatraz, Awful Eyes & Leisureland

July 4, 2026 By neilho27@sky.com

I was fortunate to be invited to a secret gig in King Tut’s last night ahead of the start of their Summer Nights series of gigs. This annual showcase features a whole host of the best of new and emerging Scottish bands and the warm up event featured three bands who have headlined at either Summer Nights or New Years Revolution, Leisureland, Awful Eyes and Alcatraz.

The venue was packed with invited members of bands who are performing at this years event, many for the first time and as such, one of the Summer Nights promoters, Meg hosted a Q&A before the bands played their sets with all three acts giving some insight and the benefits of their experience.… Read the rest

TRNSMT Warm Up Gig – King Tuts – Sister Madds, Tina Sandwich & Lacuna

June 19, 2026 By neilho27@sky.com

This pre TRNSMT gig in King Tuts featured three of Scotlands finest DIY/independent bands and laid down a marker for where any discerning music fan going to the festival should focus their time and energy this weekend…

The annual bucket hat festival in Glasgow this weekend is struggling by all accounts, ticket sales have been poor, with deals available on discount websites and new late entry offers to try to boost sales. To me, this is no surprise as, on the face of it, when you look take a glance at the the line up with the headliners in bold type, it is singularly uninspiring, it feels like a confused bill, not really sure itself of who it is targeting, but if you take time to look beyond the dull headliners, there are some golden nuggets to be found, some further down on the bill on the main stage like Brogeal, English Teacher & Rianne Downey early on Saturday.… Read the rest

Singles Round Up 2026 – May – Part 4

June 17, 2026 By neilho27@sky.com

The latest part of May’s singles is another smorgasbord from across genres and spanning the Atlantic with a good sprinkling of up and coming Scottish bands and there is an undercurrent of rock n roll/rockabilly and blues in several of the songs in this part of the round up…

First up, having collaborated on their previous single with The Interrupters, Dead Pioneers have joined forces with Sleaford Mods Jason Williamson for The Worst Among Us. The message behind the song is as valid for the UK in our present times as it is for Gregg Deal’s home in the  USA. US Presidents and parties like Reform with their racist narratives are emboldening the far right… “The worst among us cast shadows long” …as seen by recent events in Belfast and closer to home in Glasgow.… Read the rest

Introducing the Band(s) – You Are Here – The New Sound of Scotland CD

June 12, 2026 By neilho27@sky.com

Having had the seed of an idea towards the end of 2025, and then going through the stress of being let down by an unreliable CD production company, The New Sound of Scotland finally saw the light of day a few weeks ago. The idea for the CD was to celebrate the vibrant music scene in Scotland and the new, young and emerging Scottish bands that form part of that scene. The 30 songs across 2 CDs in this compilation form just a snapshot of the burgeoning underground music scene in Scotland, and the word is out, with many of the bands on this first (?)… Read the rest

Singles Round Up 2026 – May – Part 3

June 9, 2026 By neilho27@sky.com

The first couple of songs in this part were actually April releases which I didn’t pick up on at the time and there are a few others from earlier in the year that I didn’t pick up on…

Based on the current state of the world and the behaviours of some sections of society I’m beginning to think that the name of this next band is something that really should be considered, anyway… Veto Humans debut single Belong to Glasgow, is a moody brooding track with low key vocals that deliver the refrain of the song’s title repeatedly throughout, the vocal soundtracked by darkly glitchy driving dance beats interspersed with some sonorous guitar riffs. … Read the rest

Singles Round Up 2026 – May – Pt 2

June 6, 2026 By neilho27@sky.com

I keep thinking I’m getting there then something knocks me back again… so here we are in June and I’m only on part 2 of May’s singles round up’s with the remainder of April and all of May’s album reviews languishing uncomplete… Anyway here goes for part 2 of May’s singles

Something a bit different from Verse Metrics this month with the multi-textured and hypnotically atmospheric Robin Southby remix of their track Arcane Spillage. A slow burn intro breaks into delicate piano parts, before the rhythm builds and the urgency increases, the refrain of “like I’m being gently pulled apart” glitching and repeating until the full blown thunderous beats and synths opens up.… Read the rest

Warmduscher & San Jose – live in the Classic Grand

May 19, 2026 By neilho27@sky.com

This was a bit of a last minute one, I’d seen the Warmduscher gig advertised but it was only in the last week or so that I noticed San Jose were to be the support, that sealed the deal for me.

Anytime I’ve seen San Jose before, the gig descends into near riot with stage invasions, beer flying, raucous pits, athletic moves and incursions into the crowd from their rambunctious frontman Calum as well as disrobing by the band, well particularly guitarist Cean. Despite the early set time and the fact it was a Tuesday night, pretty much everything was there apart from the stage invasion for the finale, a boisterous and life affirming multi faceted anthem through one of my favourite singles of last year, Dirty Linen.… Read the rest

Singles Round Up 2026 – April

May 19, 2026 By neilho27@sky.com

I feel like I’m running to stand still in playing catch up, but there are so many great new singles out in the wild that I wanted to capture them all, for my own benefit more than anything else. April was another strong month for emerging Scottish talent, alongside more established Scottish bands, as well as singles from far and wide, including a rare appearance from Finland with a new Teksti TV 666 single from their new EP.

Pedalo continue to excel as one of Scotland’s finest purveyors of majestically soulful dream pop with the irresistible groove of Hate Me. Charlotte’s soaring gossamer smooth vocals belie the tale of a broken relationship where the desire to even receive negative emotions would be better than nothing at all.… Read the rest

Buzz Cutz – April Albums Pt 1 – Broken Chanter, Brontës, Sports Frock & The Twilight Sad

May 18, 2026 By neilho27@sky.com

Still playing catch up with reviews of my favourite albums from 2026 so far, having had an extended absence from the blog and social media in general, and I know The Twilight Sad album was officially a March release…

Broken Chanter – This Could Be Us, You, Or Anybody Else

David McGregor’s latest masterpiece, This Could Be Us, You, Or Anybody Else is a protest album for the 21st Century, perfectly capturing a moment in time that highlights just how dystopian the days we are living in are with his astute observations of what it means to live on this spinning sphere where world leaders seem intent on hitting the self-destruct button and steering us on a crash course to oblivion.… Read the rest

Buzz Cutz – March Albums Pt 2 – The Dandy Warhols, The Darts US, The Deadlians

May 16, 2026 By neilho27@sky.com

The Dandy Warhols – Pin Ups

The Dandy Warhols take the lead from Bowie in releasing Pin Ups, a compilation of covers from across their illustrious career, some faithful to the originals, but many of them re-worked in The Dandy Warhols own inimitable style. There are seventeen tracks in total from 1960s Dylan, The Byrds and The Beatles, through seventies rock to punk and beyond into post punk, goth and alternative rock territory of the 80s and 90s.

Probably the main highlights are the songs they’ve re-worked, starting with the album’s opener Cherry Bomb flipping things around as they do on Kiss Off, with Courtney taking lead voval on the former and Zia on the latter.… Read the rest