Punk - The Ginger Quiff

November Singles – Pt 5 – Horsegirl, Upturned Boats, Dead Pony, Ron Briskin, Sunturns, Tombstones in Their Eyes…

December 2, 2024 By neilho27@sky.com

Part 5 and some more belters here…

A taster for album number two from Horsegirl, an early Christmas treat from Sunturns, plus songs from Upturned Boats, Tombstones in Their Eyes, Ron Briskin and Dead Pony.

Horsegirl – 2468

Ahead of the release of their second album Phonetics On and On comes the single 2468, an uncomplicated laidback and sprawling folky slacker rock tune.

Horsegirl

Upturned Boats – Car Park Sadness

The first of two tunes in the November Round Up for Upturned Boats with this heart-rending ballad Car Park Sadness, an atmospheric slow burn of an intro unveiling an affecting vocal that will appeal to fans of King Creosote and wojtek the bear.… Read the rest

November Singles – Pt 3 – Throwing Muses, Nouvelle Vague, David Delinquent and the IOUs, Sister Madds, Jewel Scheme, F.O. Machete, Scorpio Leisure…

December 1, 2024 By neilho27@sky.com

Part three of November’s round up sees the return of Throwing Muses with their first single since 2020, Nouvelle Vague with a festive cover with the rest of part three made up of home grown talent including David Delinquent and the IOUs, Jewel Scheme, F.O.Machete, the band I may have seen live most in 2024, Sister MADDs, and GQ favourites Scorpio Leisure.

Throwing Muses – Drugstore Drastic

Kristin Hersh and co. make a welcome return with the understated Drugstore Drastic their first new music since 2020’s Sun Racket album and precedes a tour in Spring 2025 including a date in The Garage in Glasgow on May 20th.… Read the rest

November Singles – Pt 2 – San Jose, Hurtsfall, Vigilanti, Peter Johnstone, Fistymuffs, Ditz, Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs…

December 1, 2024 By neilho27@sky.com

The second instalment of singles/tracks from November features some home grown talent in the shape of San Jose, Vigilanti, Peter Johnstone and Fistymuffs alongside songs from Hurstfall, Ditz and Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs coming from further afield.

San Jose – Dirty Linen

This sprawling epic song is one of my highlights for November, perhaps the year, it feels like a musical movement rather than just a song due to the several parts that make up the track, which musically sits somewhere between the thoughtful musings of Trampolene and the rakish charm of louche rockers Fat White Family.… Read the rest

Singles, Singles, Singles…. August to October 2024 (Part 1)

November 21, 2024 By neilho27@sky.com

I’m admitting defeat, I can’t keep up the pace with what I’d really like to do with The Ginger Quiff. The Singles Round-Ups are an onerous task… what with adding all the links and videos and the like.

I’m going to have to re-think my approach, after all the reason I want to feature so many singles is because I like them… not because I feel I have to. But I do need to make the process more manageable, and to get the joy back into it, and not have that “oh fuck, I’ve still got another 30 songs to write about” feeling that I currently experience.… Read the rest

Corrupt Intentions – Time to Give Up – EP review

November 10, 2024 By neilho27@sky.com

Formerly part of the young punk quartet Minority Rule, whose flame burnt short but brightly leaving a lasting impression on many who saw them, Gregor Ritchie, together with Three n Eights bandmate Aaron Collins on bass along with drummer Liam Toner, is back with his new hardcore punk trio, Corrupt Intentions.

Ritchie, who is an instantly recognisable part of the West of Scotland music scene, especially at punk and psychobilly gigs with his impressive black and red Mohawk, has swapped the bass of Minority Rule for guitar and lead vocals with Corrupt Intentions, a band who owe more of a debt to the NYC hardcore scene and West Coast punk legends Rancid (and all their associated bands – Operation Ivy, Transplants, Old Firm Casuals and Lars Frederikson and the Bastards to name a few) than they do to the UK punk scene, with, of course, a smattering of psychobilly thrown in for good measure…

The six songs offered up on their first release are raw and ferocious, six straight down the barrel, no nonsense, no messing, visceral knockout punches. … Read the rest

Amyl & the Sniffers – Cartoon Darkness Live in Glasgow

November 8, 2024 By neilho27@sky.com

All photographs courtesy of Christopher Hogge

A month to the day that I get to go to New York for the first time and I awoke to the news the whole of the sane world was dreading, the USA have re-elected an incoherent rambling fool to be the head of the most powerful country in the world. As if the world isn’t fucked up enough, the UK is being run by a “sir” whose socialist ideals are as far away from Labour as I’ve ever seen, and that after we finally got rid of the moral bankruptcy and increasingly fascist ideals of Tories as well.… Read the rest

Scottish Music Collective Halloween Bash with Sister Madds

November 1, 2024 By neilho27@sky.com

All Hallows Eve in Glasgow and the streets were filled with orange jumpsuited convicts, pirates and zombies… so no change there then from any other night… Who can really tell anyway? The post apocalyptic wasteland that is Sauchiehall Street these days looks like the Zombie apocalypse has already come to pass. Anyway, having fought my way through the hordes of the undead I made it to Scottish Music Collective’s sold out Halloween spooktacular in Nice n Sleazy, a fearsome four band bill headlined by the unstoppable force that is Sister Madds.

Before the headline act we were treated to a smorgasbord of diverse bands in the shape of Naked Actress, Vigilanti and Sean Choon & the Prawn Monsoon.… Read the rest

Bodega – Brand on the Run tour, Glasgow

October 22, 2024 By neilho27@sky.com

All photographs courtesy of Chris Hogge (@chrishoggephotography) • Instagram photos and videos

It feels that there has always been an affinity between Scotland, particularly Glasgow, and New York. It seems that the spirit of the cities live within each other. Perhaps it’s because we look alike, with Glasgow often substituting for the Big Apple in Hollywood blockbusters and then there is New York hosting a Tartan Week, perhaps it’s because both cities have a strong musical heritage spawning some of the worlds best bands and having some of the most iconic music venues, past and present. Or maybe it’s just because each cities people know how party and have a good time.… Read the rest

The Courettes – Live (& Interview) – Room 2, Glasgow – The Soul of The Courettes tour

October 15, 2024 By neilho27@sky.com

All photographs of The Courettes courtesy of Christopher Hogge Photography Chris Hogge (@chrishoggephotography) • Instagram photos and videos

The new album by The Courettes came out on my birthday, what a gift to receive. Fortunately I’d had access to the album in advance so by the time I received the vinyl, I was well versed in the songs contained within the grooves. After all these years, and there have been more than a few now, there is still nothing like playing a record for the first time, and a band like The Courettes really should be listened to on vinyl…

I had been looking forward in anticipation to a huge list of gigs in September, but unfortunately I never made the majority of them, and the one’s I did make it to, while the gigs were great, I wasn’t as locked in as I normally would be, my head and thoughts were often elsewhere and try as I might, I couldn’t lose myself in the music the way I usually do.… Read the rest

Sister Madds, The Froobz, Lemon Drink & comfort girl – King Tuts Summer Nights Live

September 1, 2024 By neilho27@sky.com

My gig game has been weak recently. I’ve missed several fixtures that should have been easy home wins. For some reason I’ve gone down the route of weak football analogies here, I should point out that as an armchair Aberdeen fan, I may be giddy through their early season success, as I started to write this my team was sitting in the recent uncharted territory of the top of the league.

Personally, I’ve not been match fit recently so my first gig back for a while was an opportunity to test my fitness levels. Not my actual fitness levels, testing them would most definitely not have a positive outcome, but what I mean is my ability to seamlessly slip back into the pattern of play as if nothing had happened.… Read the rest