Category: Shoegaze

The Ginger Quiff – Albums/EPs of the Year

December 31, 2025 By neilho27@sky.com

Having had a prolonged break from writing The Ginger Quiff blogs in 2025, as well as missing many of the gigs I wanted to get to, it also meant I missed reviewing some of my favourite albums of this year. That didn’t mean I wasn’t enjoying the music or using it as a form of therapy, I am one of those people who can’t get through a day without listening to music, and if I do, something is majorly wrong… any, for what it’s worth here are my 50 favourite akbums of 2025, 25 favourite EPs (actually 26) and my favourite re-releases and compilations, where I did review them, I’ve included the link to the review.… Read the rest

Miki Berenyi Trio & f.o. machete – Live in Sleazys

December 21, 2025 By neilho27@sky.com

It was the last gig of 2025 for me, so what better way to bow out than in the company of one my favourite bands who also happened to be the purveyors of one of my albums of the year (a list which I’ve not even considered yet, and given that I missed a whole chunk of the year needs a bit of thought…) and also in the presence of a singer who I last saw in what I fear was as far back as 1994 in King Tuts if my memory serves with her first band Lush, so I was well overdue a re-acquaintance.… Read the rest

Lacuna – Nest – EP review

December 19, 2025 By neilho27@sky.com

Following the success of their What If I Told You I’d Been Lying the Whole Time EP earlier in the year, featuring the sublime GQ favourite, Shelley, Lacuna continue on their ascendant arc with the brilliant Nest EP. Like Milange, whose EP Till You Drop EP I have recently reviewed there seems to be a universal acknowledgement that Lacuna are one of those bands who deserve to be huge, and the four songs here do nothing to dispel that assumption.

The EP opens with the majestic title track, a song packed with a heavy dose of lyrical mystery and intrigue, while musically the band create a sweeping cinematic soundscape that rises either immense swells and falls into quiet introspection.… Read the rest

Singles… so far…

November 10, 2025 By neilho27@sky.com

November is still in it’s infancy but by the end of last week, there was a flurry or singles that were on my radar. I’ll leave my favourite until last, but let’s kick things off with Death Valley Girls who have already left Halloween behind and have their minds on the next holiday season on the sublime Season of Dreaming, a swoonsome Christmas offering shrouded in atmospheric tenor saxophone, with the addition of bells to give it that Christmas vibe. As Bonnie Bloomgarden sings of “dreaming of the year you will make” and the “season for dreaming and believing” they do feel like the perfect band to bridge the seasons, with plenty of their spooky psych-goth remaining, and just enough festive spirit to start the feels.… Read the rest

Singles Round Up 2025 – February – Part 5

April 24, 2025 By neilho27@sky.com

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

Singles Round Up 2025 – February – Part 2

March 28, 2025 By neilho27@sky.com

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

Singles Round Up 2025 – January – Part 7

February 22, 2025 By neilho27@sky.com

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

Singles Round Up 2025 – January – Pt 4

February 3, 2025 By neilho27@sky.com

Skinner – Calling in Sick

The intro and underlying vibe to Calling in Sick has a distinct Young Fathers groove to it, add to that the frenetic discombobulating and nervous energy that Skinner brings to the track and you have a winning formula that creates an uneasy but highly engaging listen taking the subjects of work and mental health as its template.

Skinner

Shimmer ‘94 – I Heard You Say

A post-punk/indie anthem of epic proportions, an unassuming intro demanding to unveil a mellifluous cacophony of layered instruments with a vocal and refrain that takes me back to the days of the much missed Dead Hope.… Read the rest

New Years Revolution 2025 – King Tuts ft. Tanzana, Naked Actress, Aldous and Save Face

January 10, 2025 By neilho27@sky.com

My first gig of 2025 was one of King Tuts January showcase gigs as part of their New Years Revolution series with a four band smorgasbord of styles headlined by one of my “25 for ‘25” tips for great things, Tanzana.

So, was it worth braving sub zero temperatures during a tiring and challenging first week back at work following the festive period when I could just have retreated under a warm blanket in front of The Traitors? 

I knew from the first bars of Save Face’s first tune, the cunningly titled Intro, that they alone would have been worth the trip.… Read the rest

Singles Round Up 2024 – Part 3 – March

April 10, 2024 By neilho27@sky.com

Another month, another singles round up, and a bumper selection it is too, 61 songs in this month’s list, This month’s selection comes from a range of bands and singers from newer talent such as Dancer, Soapbox and recent BBC Introducing Scottish Act of the Year Bottle Rockets through to established legends such as Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon, as well as home grown legends Arab Strap and the continued welcome return of James King and the Lonewolves ahead of their new album The Mortality Arcade.

The Top 25

Single of the Month

Soapbox – Fascist Bob

Several reasons for this being single of the month for March, first and foremost it’s a fucking great song cementing Soapbox as one of the best of the current crop of Scottish bands displaying a punk attitude in the true spirit of the first wave of punk, kicking against the pricks and railing against the right wing.… Read the rest