Having had the seed of an idea towards the end of 2025, and then going through the stress of being let down by an unreliable CD production company, The New Sound of Scotland finally saw the light of day a few weeks ago. The idea for the CD was to celebrate the vibrant music scene in Scotland and the new, young and emerging Scottish bands that form part of that scene. The 30 songs across 2 CDs in this compilation form just a snapshot of the burgeoning underground music scene in Scotland, and the word is out, with many of the bands on this first (?) compilation achieving success far and wide. I’m not overstating things when I say I could have filled this double CD release several times over… You can find details of how to get your copy at the foot of this article.
I’ve been a fan of all the bands on the CD for some time and they’ve all featured in some way or other on the Ginger Quiff blog over the last few years… live reviews, singles included in monthly round ups, EP reviews… (I’ve included links to any Ginger Quiff articles featuring the bands at the foot of this article) and I’ve included a few of their singles NOT on the CD here…
I reached out to the bands that very graciously contributed songs to the project to ask a few questions in order to introduce them to anyone who might not know about them… This first part features pedalo, Fog Bandits, Big Girl’s Blouse and Lacuna.
Inspirations
I asked the bands for a bit of background and what inspires the music they make…
Most of pedalo met while studying music in Glasgow! The band started with Charlotte Stuart [vocals] and Callum Geddes [keys/vocals] looking for an outlet to perform their own songs. After asking Calum Steel [guitar] and Beth Mackenzie [drums/vocals] from uni to join, Calum S recruited Nick Eadie on bass as they had previously played in high school bands together. Shortly after forming, we all began writing together and that’s when we decided to start pedalo. With each member of the band having such different musical tastes and backgrounds we find that these strong influences really come through in each of our songs. We are all heavily involved in the writing process. You can see when one of us is wearing our inspiration on our sleeves and it’s this intense collaboration that makes us sound like us. During the writing process we find ourselves often referencing bands like Alvvays, Wolf Alice and Radiohead when communicating ideas to each other.
Fog Bandits balance the line between all things alternative. Taking elements of punk, rock and metal and pushing it out there to create songs that feel like massive experiences. We are inspired by bands like My Chemical Romance, VUKOVI, Bring Me the Horizon and Muse to name a few acts. Lyrically we love exploring storytelling whilst looking mostly inwards about our own personal lifes. Introspection is important to us as music has always been a way for each of us to feel heard by another, we want to pass that on to whoever needs/wants it.
Big Girl’s Blouse are an alternative punk/rock band from Glasgow. We all met and became friends through going to local gigs and we became a band when Emmy started writing songs and, well, needed a band. Her inspirations are PJ Harvey, Sleater-Kinney, The Velvet Underground, and some wider band inspirations include Pylon, ESG, The B-52s, and The Stranglers. Our songwriting is mostly based on our personal lives, sometimes very loosely though.
Lacuna are all very good friends who share a collective love of performing and songwriting that inspires each other. Emily and Jack formed Lacuna in high school; then through the beautiful Glasgow music scene the two piece became four with Will and Sean, with the final addition of Liv and Amie coming a year later. We all bring our own influences that result in a unique and genre bending sound, that flits between folky- whimsical upbeat songs to the dark-gothic slow burns. Influences include The Cure, Ethel Cain and Big Thief. Visual media and our own personal life experiences contribute a major influence in our song writing and instrumentation.
Scotland’s Underground Music Scene
I mentioned earlier how vibrant the Scottish underground music scene is just now, there are gigs virtually every night of every week that I could go to if I had the capacity, and there is always a buzz of electricity at these vibrant gigs, with new bands constantly popping up to add to the burgeoning list of bands vying for your attention. I come from a time where there were musical “tribes” who following one style of music and dressed in certain ways to feel included. One other encouraging sign is the support for each other within this genre fluid scene, with bands attending each others gigs and there is no pigeonholing of bands or the people who come to see them regardless of style of music they play or the clothes they wear. I was interested to hear from the bands themselves what it feels like to be part of this scene.
pedalo – I think we all count ourselves lucky to be a part of the Scottish music scene, where the support and opportunity for emerging artists is so vast. Particularly in Glasgow, there is a staggering amount of talent at the moment and so many artists/bands to take inspiration and learn from. This definitely motivates us to work harder and continuously grow, so we can do what we love at the highest standard possible.
Fog Bandits – Scotland’s underground scene is beyond vibrant. We have carved out our own little space but around us our closest friends are playing totally different genres, coming from totally different backgrounds and life paths. Glasgow especially is a very accepting place and that translates beautifully to the music scene here. It’s hard not to walk in to some shows and not feel like you are surrounded by friends.
Big Girl’s Blouse – The underground scene in Scotland is bountiful, which is a good sign! The diversity of genres is great, it’s good that there are many interlinked scenes.
Lacuna – We have always been inspired by the amazing plethora of diverse acts that have come through the Glasgow music scene in the last 4-5 years. It has been an incredible experience to play and watch not only acts that continue to inspire us, but to have created life long connections and friends along the way. The underground music scene in Glasgow is intrinsic to the lifeblood of the city itself along with Scotland and we are privileged to be an ongoing part of it.
2026 Plans?
pedalo – 2026 is a big year for us. We have been slowly releasing tracks from our second EP ‘Delicate Thing’ and have had a great response so far. The EP comes out on the 11th of June with an EP Launch show at King Tut’s on the 13th of June. This year will also mark the first time you will be able to grab pedalo’s music on vinyl. We have put together a double EP release that will include our debut EP ‘Migration’, our 2025 single ‘She’s The Sun’ , and our newest EP ‘Delicate Thing’ (GQ: I am pleased to say I own one of these on vinyl – it is a thing of great beauty – review will follow soon…)
Fog Bandits – soon we have a headline in McChuills, Glasgow, we are running ourselves. that one is looking like it will be a busy fun one and we will be going all out with production for our set. We also have plenty of music we have ready to release, as well as many more yet to be announced shows all over the country. (GQ:The McChuills gig is on the 9th of July with iwanttobeontv supporting…)
Big Girl’s Blouse – our next gig is next week (GQ: this is tonight as I publish this – I’ll be there with CDs!) in 1990 for Crowded Flat’s 5th birthday party which will be fun! Then we’re recording over the summer and playing more shows at the end of the year, but we haven’t announced anything yet. (GQ: Big Girl’s Blouse played an incendiary show recently in McChuills for the release of their 2 latest songs Clean and My House which I was fortunate to witness but was on a blog break at the time…)
Lacuna – Loads! We will be making our debut appearances at major Scottish festivals such as TRNSMT (GQ – along with other bands on the CD Sister Madds and Soapbox), Belladrum, and Kelburn, whilst also playing the beautiful Mac Arts in Galashiels and the Kintyre Songwriters Festival. We have also recently secured dates for our first ever tour! We will be playing venues in London, Manchester, and Brighton along with more soon to be announced. A new single may also be on the way later this year…(GQ: Lacuna also play a TRNSMT Warm Up show in King Tuts on the 18th June – again I’ll be there with CDs…)
The CD… Volume 2
As I said at the top of this article, I could have filled several double CDs such is the scale of the Scottish music scene and the sheer number of great new bands emerging all the time… It was hard to narrow it down to 30 bands/songs for the CD, and there were several bands that would have loved to be involved but due to a variety of reasons from personal reasons to publishing deals. I’ve got a way to go to sell all the CDs, but if this project is a success I’d love to do it again… so I asked the bands who they would like to see on a Volume 2…
pedalo – That’s such a tough question as there are so many Scottish acts that would be a great fit! Puppy Teeth are a band that we had the pleasure of playing with back in 2024 who have released a series of singles that we absolutely love. Radhika is another artist who is class, with a debut album we’ve been listening to loads. Lastly, we think Peach Crumb would make a great fit with a fantastic EP that came out last year!
Fog Bandits – if you were to do this project again we would love to see a band like iwanttobeontv on it they are brill live. Also our friends in The Sankaras, they are hard working lads with a real flair for fun live performances!
Big Girls’ Blouse – Mad Ludwig, Curiosity Shop, Isabella Strange and Ink Drinker are all amazing! And Conscious Pilot, Humour and Walt Disco <3
Lacuna – Her Picture. We are certified fan girls of Annie and the sound she creates with her incredible band. Oedipus and the Mamas Boys, Honey, Tanzana, PVC, and Aaron Miralles are among other personal favourites of ours too.
I’m glad to say I’m on the same page with all of these suggestions… lets hope it van pan out at some point. Note: Her Picture have their song Big Girl on the CD, Bleed by Oedipus and the Mama’s Boys is also included as is Sitcom from PVC.
CD Purchase details
Profits after costs made from the sales of the CD will be split between mental health charities Tiny Changes and SAMH. The following are minimum prices…
The CD is available directly from the Ginger Quiff, the cost is £10 + £2 postage and packing. Payment via PayPal at paypal.me/NeilHodge9 (if you haven’t got/don’t use PayPal – DM me and we’ll sort something out…)
If you want to grab me at a gig and buy one, it would only be £10 (cash)
I have dropped a few CDs off at Some Great Reward record shop if you want to pick one up there: Some Great Reward | Record Store| Glasgow & Online
The will shortly be available to purchase through Razur Cuts street-lit website: Razur Cuts
Band Links
pedalo – Linktree
Fog Bandits – Beacons
Big Girl’s Blouse – Linktree
Lacuna – Linktree
Links to band singles/features/reviews on The Ginger Quiff: