With Brontës having laid down the gauntlet and got the challenge for single of the month off to a flier with their captivating new song San Francisco, it is down to all comers to try to snatch the title from their grasp. The next batch for November has revealed some strong contenders, with a huge showing from some rival Scottish acts…
The Treasury’s in Love is the new single from indie-folksters Elgin and the Marbles, and is a clever lyrical take on all things wrong with the current state of the finances of these shores, seemingly made worse with each new chancellor who wanders into 11 Downing Street.
A favourite on these pages celebrate the latest chapter on their way to superstardom, having signed to So Recordings and Hideous Mink Records… Tanzana have re-released an edited version their debut single Covet, which had already cemented a single of the month accolade (the original longer version has now been removed from streaming services…) and which now comes with a newly recorded video. You’re probably bored of me banging on about this band, but I knew Tanzana were something special from the first time I saw them in Broadcast’s basement, the trip hop influenced rock sounds imprinting themselves on my memory, and that voice… I’m anticipating a great debut album to come.
From trip hop rock to shoegaze and the new single Alive and Well from Tombstones in Their Eyes, the hard and heavy psychedelic opening fading to reveal a hypnotic wall of sound matched with equally trance-inducing vocal.
Back to homegrown talents and the return of Lung Leg to the recording world for the first time in an age with Girls, complete with X Ray Spex & Essential Logic’s Lora Logic on Saxophone. Maybe dinosaur gig promoter Geoff Ellis should prick up his ears (not where I originally intended the word prick to come in that sentence…) as Lung Leg’s grrrl power imbued anthem hopefully has him haunted by his misogynistic comments from a few years past about women picking up guitars and playing on bands. ‘Mon the Lung Leg…
Nothing to do with the morning TV show from days of yore, but the Manchester band. TVAM released their new single The Words which comes from their new album due out in 2026, watch out for tour dates including Nice N Sleazy on February 27th, unless of courses, like me, you’re already committed to Sister Madds on the same night.
Moving further south from Manchester to Bristol and Mould with their single Float, guitar riffs sing above an addictive driving rhythm and lyrics nodding towards today’s self-obsessed culture, as the song builds to a raucous zenith.
Across the pond now to NYC, and I’m feeling melancholy as this time last year I was preparing for my first trip to the Big Apple… note to self – get yer arse back over there soon… especially now that Trump ain’t likely to be anywhere nearby. Anyway, Queens based Star Card recently released Ambitious Guy, the atmospheric laidback final offering from their album Trash World released today…
Staying stateside, this time to Portland, Oregon, and the new single Shopping from RAYON, a hazey spaced out tongue in cheek swipe at consumerism.
A hop and a skip over the border to Canada for Toronto’s Kiwi Jr. and their new offering Hard Drive, Ontario, which is a welcome return from the band with a Pavement meets Grandaddy indie rocker.
Back closer to home, and to legendary Highland punk duo, sisters Breagha & Onnagh, otherwise known as Bratakus who have teamed up with The Hives Chris Dangerous on drums for their latest single from forthcoming album Hagridden, due for a February release, like Tokened, Final Girl, and Hypocritical before it, Turnstile is a no holds barred, full throttle, no messing slice of hard edged, screamo-punk. The album’s gonna be a belter.
While the rest of the world swoons over Sam Fender as the North East’s answer to Springsteen, I’d much rather revel in the indie-folk of Hector Gannet, more akin to Martin Stephenson than Springsteen, The Jetty’s End is both gloriously joyful and emotionally taut, the closing section of the song is as life-affirming as it gets. On the full November playlist you’ll also get the heartrending Until My Bonnie Can’t Be Revived, while The Jetty’s End will bring a wide smile to your face this one will bring a lump to the throat and a tear to the eye. Both songs appear on a 7″ available from the band on Bandcamp.
I would dearly love to see one of the sadly omni-present flag-shagging hotel protesters come across this song. I can just imagine it now “When Britain Was Great? I’ll be ‘avin’ some of this” before playing it and having a seizure when the truth of Britain’s “great” past is revealed in all it’s glory. The single and it’s, if it wasn’t so true it’d be funny, lyrics come from European Sun, a deadpan delivery from Steve Miles that reveals all the joys of the past…sexism, bullying, racism et al. The song comes from the band’s album of the same name due for release in January.
Glasgow’s Too Red are back with their first new music since last February’s Way Out EP. The duo’s new single certainly brings the thunder, Yours to Take is a rollicking hard ‘n’ heavy juggernaut of a tune, it’s pounding drums and crunching guitar riffs more than matched by the potency of the vocals.
From West to East and Edinburgh’s Calton Hill. The city’s landmark is the pulsating new single from electro-pop outfit Pelowska…
Back to US shores again with Freak Bitch, the new single from South Carolina’s Slow Funeral mixing delicate low key verses with an insistent dynamic chorus.
Back to Edinburgh again with wrest and their new single Reset Switch Off, an earnest driving rhythm at it’s core, with a soaring chorus that has an uplifting elegance and positivity to it.
No strangers to these pages are Hull’s Gold Needles who have dropped another taster for their new album, Mood Elevator in the shape of the addictive indie-psych of Crescent Moon.
Adopted Scot, Kim Logan and the Silhouettes, who calls Glasgow home, has released their latest single Heart of Crystal, a deep down and dirty bassline creating the starting point for Logan’s elegant vocal, as the rest of the instruments burst in to herald the arrival of the song’s chorus. There is plenty of light and shade to follow, Kim’s vocal shining in the quieter moments, and matching the power and energy of the band in the more boisterous moments.
Next stop it’s Dundee for David Delinquent and the IOU’s who never fails to disappoint with his punk based musical offerings, and Everybody Loves You is no exception. This time offering up his punk rock n roll with a bluesy edge, Springsteen meets Hanoi Rocks if you will. However you describe Everybody Loves You, it is one hell of a feelgood footstomper and would be a welcome party-starter in any room.
This instalment’s key contender for single of the month is I’m Fine, Are You? the latest single from power-indie duo f.o. machete. Who can resist the familiar warm tones of Natasha’s breathy voice paired with Paul’s sonorous guitar riffs? I’m Fine, Are You? has a minimalistic opening before the bass line kicks in paired with that instantly recognisable vocal, before the sublime hook laden guitars burst in. About two-thirds through, after a low key lull where in a near whisper Natasha sings “travelling at speed, you know I’m travelling at speed, it makes me nervous, under water”, the song bursts back to life with a compelling urgency and a glorious guitar break with some riffing that would have J Mascis sitting up, taking note and nodding knowingly. Ask me that question again… I’m Fine, Are You? Fuck yes, after that absolute belter of a song, I am more than fine, I’m buzzin’.
The month’s full playlist can be found here on TIDAL, because, well, fuck Spotify…