Punk - The Ginger Quiff

Water Machine again… with The Cool Greenhouse and Former Champ

January 22, 2023 By neilho27@sky.com

Witnessing Water Machine again came at the end of a week that began with Westminster making an attempt to block the Gender Recognition Reform Bill recently passed by the Scottish Parliament, resulting in loads of Karen’s coming out of the woodwork to express their outrage, literally. I heard a debate on the radio where an atypical Daily Mail reader, called Karen, I shit you not, was having apoplexy live on air, but could not back up the reason for her anger with anything remotely resembling coherent thoughts. The week ended in a show of support for the trans community with a protest at the Concert Hall steps on Buchanan Street against using trans rights as a political football.… Read the rest

Bikini Body/Water Machine/Jock Fox/Sacred Noise – First Footing – live in The Hug and Pint

January 8, 2023 By neilho27@sky.com

This gig was brought to you by 432 presents. And COWBELLS!

In my world you can never have too many cowbells so this gig felt like cowbell utopia.

All joking aside, the abundance of cowbells that ran throughout most of the bands sets tonight was only a small contributing part of what made this the perfect gig to start my music year off with a bang.

Tonight was the perfect tonic for the January blues. Despite being known as Mr Christmas in some quarters, I didn’t really “feel” Christmas last year, so there wasn’t the usual post Christmas comedown, just a general feeling of malaise and relief that the shitshow of 2022 is now in the past.… Read the rest

Review of the Year – 2022

January 7, 2023 By neilho27@sky.com

If I don’t get my arse in gear, it’ll be February before I publish my round up of 2022. To be honest, I’ve still got a (virtual) pile of albums still to review… as a result, some of my favourite records of 2022 will be in the lists but remain unreviewed!

Singles of the Year

I already published my top 15 singles of the year (well actually I published a list of 80 songs…. but my top 15 were as follows:

15 – Dumb Poets – Magic Happens

14 – Dream Wife – Leech

13 – Syvdoh – As I Lay Dying

12 – The Bobby Lees – Monkey Mind

11 – Collars – Baby I’m Bored

10 – Keeley – Shadows on the Hill

9 – His Lordship – All Cranked Up

8 – Brontes – First Hand Arrogance

7 – Jemma Freeman and the Cosmic Something Easy Peelers

6 – Sacred Noise – Part of Me

5 – Junk Pups – Miss Behave

4 – Horsegirl – Anti Glory

3 – Pizza Crunch – Wilting Youth

2 – Water Machine – Hot Real Estate

1 – Monica Queen – What is Home?

… Read the rest

Introducing Water Machine – Band Interview

January 7, 2023 By neilho27@sky.com

On the eve of their first gig of 2023 and following a series of much talked about gigs towards the end of last year, I caught up with Water Machine to talk about the band, their music, gigs and their upcoming plans. The band were in high spirits when I met them, after a rehearsal prior to their gig with Bikini Body in the Hug and Pint, their good humour and infectious sunny disposition entirely contagious and a much needed tonic, so I was keen to find out more about the band members and how the band came together.

Introducing the Band

Jimmy: I did this solo thing for years called Passion Pusher, we done an album, I wasn’t happy with it, we did a tour and only played one song from the album, I took a long break from music and now I do this and I’ve just started a band called Goodbody with Rachel and we’re going into La Chunky at the end of the month with Paul Thomson to do tape loops and stuff.… Read the rest

Buzz Cutz Pt 2 – Jo Carley & the Old Dry Skulls, Witch Fever, Unholy Frankenstein, The Bloody Nerve

December 5, 2022 By neilho27@sky.com

As I typed the band names in the second of a series of shorter reviews, I realised there was an unintentional distinctly Halloweeny feel about the four bands in this blog (I know, it December now…but I like the element of spooky compatibility), despite the very different music styles. I’ll just say that I meant it and it was all part of the master plan, however much of a lie that may be…

Jo Carley & the Old Dry Skulls – I’ll Put My Voodoo on You

Jo Carley and the Old Dry Skulls returned with another hypnotic collection of gothic/horror-tinged swamp rockabilly trash blues, Jo drawing you in on opening track Alligator Blues with a darkly seductive introduction “It’s me, I am Jo” unsuspectingly capturing your soul as you become ensnared under her spell, the enticing allure continuing a couple of tracks later when she warns “I’ll put my voodoo on you” on the title track and such is her charm and charisma, you don’t want to resist.… Read the rest

Rats From a Sinking Ship – Now Rat’s What I Call Music – review

November 9, 2022 By neilho27@sky.com

When Rats From a Sinking Ship announced they were no more in March 2021, I’m sure I wasn’t the only one that read their post with a sense of disappointment. With five albums and 2 EPs under their belts, they have an impressive back catalogue, so when the band started posting teasers such as images with the legend “Is This What You’ve Been Waiting For?” the appetite was whetted for whatever was going to come…

The resultant release is a career spanning retrospective of tracks from across their fine array of albums from Rise as One in 2015 through to Glamorous Terrorists in 2020.… Read the rest

The Hedrons (and more…) – live in Glasgow

October 23, 2022 By neilho27@sky.com

In the mid-noughties The Hedrons burst onto the music scene in a blaze of unfettered energetic punk rock glory but, much to the disappointment of their fervent fanbase, that flame burnt brightly but briefly and within a couple of years Tippi, Soup, Rosie & Gill were gone, leaving us with their sole album, One More Won’t Kill Us to console us.

Thankfully, Past Night From Glasgow has recently reissued the album, remastered and with extra tracks, which culminated in last night’s gig, nay, celebration featuring the remarkable talents of this most fondly remembered of bands.… Read the rest

Bob Vylan – Live in Oran Mor

August 8, 2022 By neilho27@sky.com

Bob Vylan exploded onto the punk scene a couple of years ago with their incendiary commentary of life as a black man in 20th Century Britain, We Live Here (of course one of tonights highlights) which captured the imagination of the nation and was a much needed shot in the arm to a scene whose ageing fan base includes a number of right wing curmudgeons who appear to be oblivious to, or have forgotten, some of what the original punk scene was standing up against back in the 70s. Maybe they are taking the lead from the once great but increasingly irrelevant John ”Rotten” Lydon.… Read the rest

Brat Coven, Brenda & Dusk Amadeus – live in The Hug and Pint

August 7, 2022 By neilho27@sky.com

My working week last week was bookended by two of the Endless Summer nights in the Hug and Pint, the latter featuring the darkly gothic shoegaze of Dusk Amadeus, the utter joy that is the experience of a Brenda show, and the first headline show for the angry riot grrrl punks, Brat Coven.

Dusk Amadeus

Events were conspiring to have me miss this gig, having firstly to turn for home realising I’d forgotten my wallet, then eventually getting to the station to discover my train was cancelled. Thankfully though, although I missed the start of Dusk Amadeus set, i did catch the second half.… Read the rest

The Reverse Cowgirls – Fortus et Fidus

August 1, 2022 By neilho27@sky.com

Hugh Mclachlan and co. return with this exquisite and fitting 10 song tribute to his late sister Kim. The album title comes from the motto of the MacLachlan clan, translating as strong and faithful, an appropriate title for the ten emotionally charged songs on show here.

Reflecting the album’s title, the game is strong on the Glasgow quartets new collection of songs, coming across both as vigorously brawny in their own inimitable brusque garage rock cowpunk style, but dig into the song titles and lyrics and there is a touching depth to them, the love and passion for Hugh’s sister shining through on these songs, such as the seagull backed achingly beautiful lament that is Born for You.… Read the rest