Review - The Ginger Quiff

Fragile Gang - A Plausible and Desirable Future

Fragile Gang – A Plausible & Desirable Future (album review)

August 23, 2019 By neilho27@sky.com

Fragile Gang is a band from El Paso, Texas, their new album A Plausible and Desirable Future takes its name from the novel Exit West by Mohsin Hamid. The songs on the album share some of the book’s topics. As you may expect from a band from their location, the socially conscious songs are influenced by a number of subjects, including migration.

Indie/Noisy Pop/Shoegaze…

The band describe themselves as “indie/sometimes noisy pop/shoegaze” a description that pretty much accurately sums up what I hear when I listen.

Good to Go opens the album opens with a vibrating electric hum, pulsating with energy, building and crackling before it bursts into a mellifluous combination of driving guitar, crashing drums and sonorous melodic vocal.… Read the rest

The Kaplans – Sesiones De Primavera – EP review

August 21, 2019 By neilho27@sky.com

Hot on the heels of reviewing their album, Urban Elephants, for Razur Cuts (street literature magazine) the latest EP from The Kaplans dropped through my letterbox recently.

A very welcome addition to my CD collection it is too. As a recent convert to the music of the band, I find myself lapping up every new tune I hear from them. The three tracks on this EP provide me with much more to love about this band.

Yes Means No

The first track is introduced with a sample from (what I assume to be) an intro on a Mexican radio station to the playing of one of their songs – I base this purely on the words Mexico and Glasgow in the sample.… Read the rest

Friday I’m in Love… The Cure live in Glasgow

August 17, 2019 By neilho27@sky.com

What follows is part social commentary, part mental health awareness and part gig review…

Life’s Rich Tapestry

Friday the 16^th of August was a stitching together of several threads of the complex tapestry that makes up life.

I’m sure I’m not alone in having a job that, for the most part you enjoy and get an element of satisfaction from what you do, however, it can be also infuriatingly frustrating and stressful. One that involves weeks where you put in hours of extra effort that involves massive inroads into your personal life. But you do it because it is who you are, you are the type of person who want to do a good job and have a dedication to doing the best you can.… Read the rest

Walter Lure’s L.A.M.F. live in Glasgow

August 9, 2019 By neilho27@sky.com

I almost don’t know where to start.

When you return to work after a chilled out two weeks off to four of the most stressful days you’ve had in a long time, and you seriously consider not going to a gig because of your headspace.

But you realise.

And I’m going to use two of my most hated overused words.

Iconic Legend…

You realise the gig is one that features an iconic legend. There. I said it. I used both words, and adjacent to reach other!

But I mean it. It hit me when I was standing taking in the second support of the night, Hateful (and a mighty fine set it was too…), and I watched Walter Lure, or more affectionately Waldo, walk in the door and into the minimal band space in Glasgow’s Audio venue.… Read the rest

Skaghoors – The Four Play EP – review

August 7, 2019 By neilho27@sky.com

Fresh from their recent trip to Rebellion to teach the gathered punk hordes in Blackpool a thing or two about the Ayrshire punk scene, Skaghoors release a delectable selection of tracks on their new Four Play EP on which they dabble in a variety of styles to satisfy every listener.

Kicking off with a giggling child singing London Bridge is Falling Down (or could it be that “charismatic” buffoon Boris Johnson, not sure) before cleverly weaving the melody into the ska punk n roll of (No More) UK Bombs despairing at the state of the nation under an increasingly undemocratic democracy…while the lyrical exasperation levels ramp up several notches for Gender Vendor, a full throttle punk rock romp lamenting the increasingly complex and baffling world of gender identity.… Read the rest

Suede - Live in Glasgow, Kelvingrove Bandstand

Suede – Live: Kelvingrove Bandstand

August 1, 2019 By neilho27@sky.com

Last night at Kelvingrove Bandstand was an astoundingly good night. Forget about the rain, the threatened thunder and lightning storms, the show Suede put on was breath-taking.

Suede have always been a phenomenal live band, since I first saw them live in King Tuts on the 5th of October 1992, I don’t remember ever being disappointed in their live shows.

Suede hold a very special place in the hearts and minds of their fans. This most recent gig cemented their place as one of the finest live bands the UK has produced. The show was an exhilarating experience from the get go.… Read the rest

Sunstinger – She Stole My Sky – single review

July 27, 2019 By neilho27@sky.com

She Stole My Sky

From the penetrating opening guitar cacophony I was captured by She Stole My Sky, a sound that brought back memories of the peak of shoegaze in the 90’s.

As the track progressed Sunstinger’s intense shoegaze leanings gave way to a sound akin to indie darlings The Twilight Sad, with a hint of psychedelia and a vocal that occasionally tips its hat to a delivery consonant to several Mancunian/Liverpudlian luminaries.

An all pervading sound and a song I will definitely be revisiting time and again.

Story behind the song…

When you listen to the lyrics, it becomes apparent that the lush piercing music soundscape tells a stark story.… Read the rest

Cockwomble – album review

July 25, 2019 By neilho27@sky.com

Cockwomble?

First let’s tackle the elephant in the room. That name. Cockwomble. It seems to divide opinion. After sharing videos and links in the past I’ve had several people say to me the name is ridiculous. I’m not totally going to disagree; the word in itself is ridiculous. But as Adam Ant once said, ridicule is nothing to be scared of…

cockwomble (countable and uncountable, plural cockwombles)

(Britain,slang,derogatory) A foolish or obnoxious person.

21st Century weirdness

This 21^st century created word is a by-product of the weird times we find ourselves living in, creating a new word is not entirely unusual, all generations have created their own words and insults.… Read the rest

The Kidney Flowers – The Kidney Flowers: album review

July 24, 2019 By neilho27@sky.com

Glasgow’s The Kidney Flowers have been gripping me recently with their rousing frenetic 11-track self-titled album. It has regularly been spinning on my turntable, kicking several shades of shit out of my speakers.

Ferocious Trashy Garage Modern Blues

This vital 3-piece, Grant on guitar/vocals, Sean on bass and Abigail on drums, play a ferociously sparkling blend of trashy garage modern blues. Unrelentless for the entirety, the instinctively primeval vocals over fuzzed-up guitars and a solid rhythm section pummel you into submission. Seriously good music, but without being po-faced or overly solemn.

Irreverance

Addictive bass heralds the mysterious Small Fingers, introducing incessant post-punk guitar riffing, while T-Rex glam stylings make an appearance on Underneath Her Thumb.… Read the rest

Baby Shakes – Live, The Flying Duck, Glasgow

July 18, 2019 By neilho27@sky.com

I love a good gig, and usually have a few to look forward to weeks or months in advance. There is something to be said though for Impromptu gig nights. The other night in Glasgow was a case in point.

I’d seen the Baby Shakes gig advertised and had swithered whether I should go, mid-week, last few days before I’m off for a couple of weeks so busy at work. I’d unconsciously put a mental x against it as one of those, I’d like to go, but I’ll stay in.

Of course, if that had been the case, there wouldn’t have been much more to write about.… Read the rest