Gutterblood – Good Dogs Will Never Die – Album/EP review

Gutterblood first came to my attention with the release of their single with political commentator Bonnie Prince Bob, the excellent anti-monarchy rant that is Gardyloo and their excellent Hard Ghandi EP from whence it came. I’m glad to note that the outspoken Bob is back alongside Tom with some hard hitting vocals and lyrics when you pair that with founding member Andy MacVannan whose thunderous ground-shaking bass lines form the solid backbone of the bands sound, complemented by some heard hitting heavy riffing by ex-Gin Goblin Dave you have a band who are in fine fettle angrier and more forthright than ever. … Read the rest

Tenement Trail 2025

I’ve not written a blog/review since April… and reading that one back now, the negativity in my tone probably said as much about my state of mind at the time as it did about the event itself.

Maybe I should have noticed the slow decline from then until a few months later when things came to a head and my brain, for want of a better word, imploded and became my worst enemy once again. but hindsight is a great thing isn’t it? Slowly getting back on track means revisiting the things that bring a bit of joy and relief into an insane world and try to regain some sanity and balance, it means bringing some conscious positive habits in to replace all the unconscious negative habits that insidiously creep in.… Read the rest

Singles Round Up 2025 – February – Part 5

If it was down to me, I’d listen to and write about music 24/7, but unfortunately, that doesn’t pay the bills, it only adds to them! So work has to take priority which doesn’t help when you have to burn the candle at both ends just to stand still…

Anyway if I don’t change the way I do these singles round ups it’ll be July before I’m done with February.

So here goes…

All the way from Brazil, Signo 13 served up another slice of moody gothic post punk with Onironautus while The Faint revival continued apace with an unreleased single, Brokers, Priests and Analysts, from their reissue of Blank-Wave Arcade.… Read the rest

House Guest Festival 2025 – Review

In 2024, the inaugural House Guest Festival was such a roaring success, I had high hopes and expectations for this years event. My hopes were most definitely not dashed as Scottish Music Collective & Crowded Flat pulled off another cracker of an event, planned perfectly and executed with a pinpoint precision, with timings being a major factor in events such as this, everything flowed as gracefully as as a swam gliding across water, but I’m sure this meant no end of unseen frantic exertion behind the scenes. Kudos to all involved.

Count the Days


The Sankaras opened proceedings in Sleazys, but my starter for 10 for the day was a furiously energetic Count the Days.… Read the rest

Singles Round Up 2025 – February – Part 3

The Mushroom Club – Afraid

Trippy psych sounds abound on February single Afraid from Glasgow based garage rock band The Mushroom Club.

The Mushroom Club

Pales – Uppercut

Uppercut comes from French alt-rockers Pales latest EP, Crush. Both the title of the EP and single are appropriate adjectives to describe the sound of the band, the crushing intensity of the guitar riffs and the layering of vocals and instruments on the single coming together in a glorious melee and rising to a knockout crescendo

Pales

Self Esteem – 69

Perhaps not one to add to your workplace playlists, as Self Esteem celebrates every sexual position imaginable but draws the line at….… Read the rest

Singles Round Up 2025 – February – Part 2

Mark W. Georgsson – Tripping With You

Mark W. returned in February with this boisterously energetic slice of cosmic psychedelia, Georgsson will play his first gig since 2022 supporting Brownbear in Coatbridge.

Mark W. Georgsson

flinch. – i heard monogamy and the patriarchy are best of friends (and Tennyson wrote that poem about his best friend)

Winning the February prize for longest song title is the always wonderful flinch. I heard… is a prime example of what flinch. do best, making their point quietly and assertively, thought provoking lyrics paired with gentle guitar riffs and sung in the familiar hushed tones are interspersed with excerpts of an interview with Avril Lavigne.… Read the rest

f.o. machete – Mother of a Thousand – album launch gig – Nice n Sleazy

Two sold out album launch gigs in one weekend! Monsieur, with these gigs you are really spoiling us… Well to be fair, this one should have been in January but Storm Eowyn had other ideas. Tonight Paul was pragmatic about the whole affair, “Mogwai were due to be playing the same night, there was only ever going to be one winner there” was his deadpan comment from the stage. 

Mother of a Thousand is a phenomenal album so whoever else may or may not have been playing this Sundays night in Glasgow there was only one place I wanted to be, and the band can be safe in the knowledge that after a such a mind-blowing gig, the album was well and truly launched.… Read the rest

Three n Eights – Leopard Print Hearts – Album launch gig – Audio

Photographs of Corrupt Intentions, Rudebeard and Three n Eights courtesy of Chris Hogge Photography

Yeah, yeah, I know the old cliche, when that gig you’ve just been to is brilliant, nay, the best ever because it’s the one that’s on the forefront on your mind. When you’re on the way home and the memories are still fresh, the adrenaline is still pumping through you and the dopamine high is real, you feel like you can take on the world. We’ve all been there, and we’d all agree that feeling is palpable. All too often though that it is a fleeting feeling, the moment is gone after a short while and, boom, you’re back down to earth with a bang the next morning as reality hits and the vagaries of life return with a vengeance.… Read the rest

Singles Round Up 2025 – January – Part 8

The bumper final part of the January singles round up… including a link to the playlist for all January’s singles.

Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs – Stitches

As another taster for their forthcoming album Death Hilarious following up last years Detroit, the Black Sabbath-esque pulsating doom metal throb of Stitches is a tempting aural amuse-bouche, whetting the appetite for what auricular delights the album will serve up.

Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs

Ian Donaldson – Just Another Rock n Roll Song

January’s offering from the ex H2O frontman comes from his latest album, Dreams From Tenement Land, Just Another Rock n Roll Song once again focuses on a subject familiar to his solo work, with Donaldson in reflective mood once more, this joyous celebration of life and music, looking back on his love for Glam Rock, glamming away his Saturday nights, the impact and influences on him in his youth forming the basis for his career in music.… Read the rest

Singles Round Up 2025 – January – Part 7

Vampire Slumber Party – Polka King Of the Midwest

Part seven begins with a joyous blast of full throttle pop punk in the form of this boisterous three minute anthem from London based Vampire Slumber Party, it’s like the early noughties all over again.

Vampire Slumber Party

Gypsy Pistoleros – Whatever Happened to the Old Town

Another earnest glam punk rocker from the greasepaint daubed Gypsy Pistoleros, the lyrics initially yearning for time gone by, before the mid song tempo rise tells a different story “I ran away from the old town” sings Gypsy Lee Postolero, before the song closes out in more meditative mood as he ruminates about “home”.… Read the rest