Category: Kiss This

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 – 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

Buzz Cutz – March Albums Pt 1- Elgin & the Marbles, Louise McCorkindale & Vitaliy Tkachuk, The Foot and Leg Clinic, The Rotations

May 14, 2026 By neilho27@sky.com

Elgin & the Marbles – The Sun Never Sets

2026 has been a magnificent year for lyrical storytelling so far, even just in the last month or so there have been new albums from Sloan Brothers and Heavenly that have had me both charmed and captivated by the microcosms of life encapsulated in their songs. Now I can add to that list The Sun Never Sets from Elgin and the Marbles, who have completely and utterly captivated me with this delightfully enchanting album. The songs have a beguiling elegant grace and beauty within which they deliver lyrical tales laced with provocative and politically charged messages delivered in a deftly astute manner.… Read the rest

Buzz Cutz – EP Reviews – February & March – Sister Madds, The Jackal IV, Clay Rings, Cowboy Hunters, The New Cut

May 13, 2026 By neilho27@sky.com

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.… Read the rest

Singles Round Up 2026 – March

May 12, 2026 By neilho27@sky.com

The singles round up for March has more than it’s fair share of excellent singles from emerging Scottish talent from alt-rock right through to Gaelic rap (yes, you read it right), with debut singles from the likes of Honey, Close Control, Sports Frock and Quality Control and cracking singles from Tanzana, bottle rockets, Martha May and the Mondays, Stratus, Verse Metrics, Bandit Country, Dubinski, Doss, Subterranean, Brontes, Grow Up, Pearling. Arran Hopkins, Conscious Pilot, Limonead, Gichard, Mantel, Big Crunch, and braes, with some more established Scottish acts like Middle Class Guilt, Carla J Easton, The Countess of Fife, The Girobabies and Broken Chanter joining the party.… Read the rest

Buzz Cutz – February Albums – Sloan Brothers, Molly Vulpyne Band, The Screamin’ Kick, Heavenly

May 10, 2026 By neilho27@sky.com

Despite the best of intentions, 2026 hasn’t panned out the way I’d have wished and so, once again, the Ginger Quiff has taken a back seat. Here are some shorter than normal reviews of some of my favourite albums released in February

Sloan Brothers – Love and Other Diagnoses

I fell in love with the music of Sloan Brothers at the time of their 2022 System Update album, reviewed here, an album which came at me from leftfield and hit me for six. Sometimes you review a band or album and then maybe never listen to it again. System Update isn’t one of those albums, it is one which I revisit time and again, and I’m stoked that Love and Other Diagnoses has come along and does nothing to dampen my ardour for their music, if anything it re-ignites the flame and gives me another set of, sometimes heart-aching, charmingly honest songs to swoon over.… Read the rest

Singles Round Up 2026 – February – Part 2

May 9, 2026 By neilho27@sky.com

I’m not going to go into the reasons why this is so late, but I started this such a long time ago now, half of the bands have probably released more music or split up since but hey, as the saying goes, I’ve started, so I’ll finish…

February seems a long time ago and a lot of water has flowed under the bridge since then. And as you can see from this second part of the singles for the month, there was a lot to digest including a few new releases from bands who feature on the “You are Here – The New Sound of Scotland” CD (yes, I know… I’m awaiting delivery of said CD, once they are in my grubby mitts they’ll be unleashed on an unsuspecting public….)… Read the rest

Singles Round Up 2026 – January – Part 4

January 29, 2026 By neilho27@sky.com

The final part of this month’s singles round up runs to 21 songs, bringing the total to 57 brilliant new songs for the first month of the year, 23 of these from Scottish bands/artists, a cracking start to the year I’m sure you’ll agree. Part 4 of the singles for January includes new singles from 3 bands that feature on the forthcoming New Sound of Scotland CD namely Cowboy Hunters, Vanderlye and The Froobz, and with Oedipus and the Mama’s Boys being on Part 3 of the round up, it’s already stacking up to be a great year for new music from the bands on the CD, the next couple of months are shaping up well with singles on the way from pedalo, Martha May and the Mondays and Sister Madds to name but 3…

As soon as I get the CDs delivered, I’ll post details on how to get your hands on one… it’ll be a case of when they’re gone, they’re gone…

First up on this part it’s the somewhat eery and menacing Dr Love from Would Be Goods, be well warned by the spookily haunting melody and don’t let the name fool you, this Dr Love is not there to heal you or mend your broken heart, rather he will pull the rug from under you and rip your heart to shreds.… Read the rest

Singles Round Up 2026 – January – Part 3

January 28, 2026 By neilho27@sky.com

Another batch of January’s singles with a heavy leaning towards new music from young Scottish bands but with a smattering of the old guard too, starting off with this new classic in the making from The Bluebells…

A Monochrome Set is the follow up to The Bluebells commentary on the rise of the right No Pasaran and this time they are in reflective melancholic mood, with lyrics that match the mood of the elegantly laidback melody perfectly and instil a feeling that is like a yearning for simpler times gone by,

Siblings Natalie and Sean aka comfort are back and stronger than ever with new single Appear Offline which has them at their frenetic best with Sean’s potent staccato drumming matching the pacey bleeps and beats of the programming and Natalie’s intensely fervent vocal polishes things off

Sirens Call My Name is the latest single offering from the all female/non binary Hen Hoose Collective from their forthcoming album The Twelve, named to reflect the twelve musicians Susan Bear, MALKA, Inge Thomson, SHEARS, Carla J Easton, Frances McKee, AMUNDA, Djana Gabrielle, Emma Pollock, Jill Lorean, Cariss Crosbie and Ray Aggs involved in it’s creation.… Read the rest