My third from last gig in 2025… in a year when I seem to have missed more gigs than I managed to get along to for a combination of reasons not worth going into here..Let’s just say I need to resolve to ensure 2026 is much of a shit storm than 2025…
There was the potential for me to be missing this one too, but with this line up, plus the knowledge that this would be the last ever outing for Junk Pups it was a no brainer to pull out all the stops and make it by hook or crook.… Read the rest
While everyone else is publishing their end of year lists, as usual I’m bringing up the rear and finally publishing my final part of November’s singles round up… a part which throws up just as many pure gold nuggets as the rest of the month did. Rock, glam, punk, indie… from artists who have reached legendary status (in my eyes and ears at least) to those who are breaking though and creating some astonishingly good new music.
First up in this part is one of those who have reached legendary status. It’s Hanoi Rocks frontman Michael Monroe and the second single to be released form his new album Outerstellar due for release on the 20th February.… Read the rest
For reasons too boring to go into, the last part of Novembers Singles round up hasn’t yet been completed, and the pick of the gigs for December is appearing a week into the month with some top gigs already passed…
My first week in December didn’t quite go as planned… the pattern of missing more gigs than I’ve seen in 2025 continues having missed Gutterblood’s first Glasgow gig last Wednesday. My ticket for Thursday’s gig featuring The Liminanas supported by the brilliant Scorpio Leisure also went a-begging AND even with the best will in the world I was never making t back to Glasgow for the 5pm launch of Lacuna’s new EP Nest in Assai on Friday afternoon… Let’s hope 2026 is a better year for so many reasons.… Read the rest
We’re nearing the end of November and the singles keep on coming, with another motley bunch hitting the airwaves since I out pen to paper for the last batch… once again there is sureky somethonh here for every taste, with the young Scottish crew making an impression, and another few songs vying for the title of Single of the Month for November.
First up in this part is the latest single from Jo Carley and the Old Dry Skulls side project Carley’s Wreck and Ruin, Jo’s familiar vocal capturing me under her spell immediately as her bewitching voice repeats the song’s title Devil’s Got The Poison.… Read the rest
It had been too long since I’d been at a gig in the Glad Cafe, especially considering that it and The Rum Shack are my local venues. It was especially great to walk into the venue knowing what I was going to witness, such is the beguiling and intriguing nature of the music of Son of the Right Hand. Clearly the feeling was mutual given the hubbub and upbeat buzz around the cosy and welcoming venue right from doors open. I had a good feeling that it was going to be a gig to remember.
Before the band got to officially launch their EP, we had two support bands to entertain us, with eclectic styles to mix things up a bit.… Read the rest
With Brontës having laid down the gauntlet and got the challenge for single of the month off to a flier with their captivating new song San Francisco, it is down to all comers to try to snatch the title from their grasp. The next batch for November has revealed some strong contenders, with a huge showing from some rival Scottish acts…
The Treasury’s in Love is the new single from indie-folksters Elgin and the Marbles, and is a clever lyrical take on all things wrong with the current state of the finances of these shores, seemingly made worse with each new chancellor who wanders into 11 Downing Street.
November is still in it’s infancy but by the end of last week, there was a flurry or singles that were on my radar. I’ll leave my favourite until last, but let’s kick things off with Death Valley Girls who have already left Halloween behind and have their minds on the next holiday season on the sublime Season of Dreaming, a swoonsome Christmas offering shrouded in atmospheric tenor saxophone, with the addition of bells to give it that Christmas vibe. As Bonnie Bloomgarden sings of “dreaming of the year you will make” and the “season for dreaming and believing” they do feel like the perfect band to bridge the seasons, with plenty of their spooky psych-goth remaining, and just enough festive spirit to start the feels.… Read the rest
Hot on the heels of their double whammy of August singles in the form of the suitably unhinged Mad Men and high octane rush of Do What I Want the riotous garage rockers present their tongue in cheek titled EP. I say tongue in cheek as anyone who has been fortunate enough to see Fiendz YT live will know just how utterly rowdy and joyful that experience is, a life affirming opportunity to chuck everything in the fuck it bucket and let yourself go with reckless abandon. The six tracks on this EP are representative of that live experience and have the band revelling in their natural environment, with furious garage punk kicking things off on Vote For Me, “vote for me or you’re fuckin’ brain dead” is the message… or should that be threat as the vocals reach a pinnacle of blood vessel bursting rage as the fuel injected punk goes full-on nitro.… Read the rest
The debut three track EP, Other Conspiracies, from the raucous rising stars of Auld Reekie, post-punk noiseniks, Shinlifter is out now. Other Conspiracies kicks off with Close Encounters, a song that has the band high on adrenaline, musically launching themselves headlong at your jugular with a furious urgency, the lyrics spat out rant-like with an unbridled venom. The driving fuzzy guitars change mid-song to sharp angular riffs that match the pointed lyrical barbs. I do hope you’ve never got on the wrong side of vocalist Olivia Furey, as you’re definitely on her shitlist, “I want to list them name by name from primary school to the present day.” … Read the rest
The debut album from the talented duo of Amelia Lironi and Naomi Mackay, who met while studying music at Riverside College, is an exquisite masterpiece with its stylish melding of 1970s styledisco and funk with 1980’s post punk, their perfectly syncopated dual vocals playing off the sweeping synths, disco handclaps and funk/punk guitar riffs and creating an overall sound that is elegantly suave and coolly sophisticated.
This album has feel good written all over it, the infectious nature of the music, and it’s laidback geniality has a way of catching you unaware, enveloping you in it’s warm embrace until you feel invincible, like you don’t have a care in the world and nothing really matters anymore, apart from the music.… Read the rest
