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.
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. A slice of heaven.
Hannah Rose Platt – Curious Mixtures
Hannah Rose Platt releases the follow up to her Deathbed Confessions album in April with a new collection of songs in the shape of Fragile Creatures, an album which “explores how centuries-old myths and misconceptions in the pursuit of science have impacted female health, while creating countless injustices and inequalities”. Curious Mixtures is the first single to come from that album and it has an ethereally dreamlike feel to it, with lyrics telling the story of a midwife secretly practising her trade in the dead of night.
Savage Cut – Collapse of the Imagination
flinch. Interspersed their latest single in this round up with excerpts of an interview with Avril Lavinge, Savage cut have gone one step further, using only interview clips, from a 1976 interview with Patti Smith, and soundtracking it in a way only they can. I’m always excited when a new Savage Cut tat k comes my way, it’s all about the anticipation of where they decide to take their sound next. Collapse of the Imagination is another glorious twist in the road of their musical journey, this time injecting an element of trip hop onto their sound.
The Loft – Feel Good Now
One of the (many) things that resonates about this single from indie legends The Loft is the lyrical quip “don’t want to feel good tomorrow, wanna feel good now”, bringing a striking realisation that I’m currently living life in that way that many of us do, that old thought process…if only I can get through the next few weeks, things will get better. Mr Astor I salute you, live for the moment, don’t wait for things to get better. Feel good now.
Nouvelle Vague – Do You Really Want to Hurt Me
Nouvelle Vague are more or less a shoe-in for singles round ups, as they continue to pull it out of the bag with their laid back takes on classic songs, this one being no exception. Just enjoy.
Keeley – Scratches On Your Face
One of the most incredible talents to emerge over recent years is the phenomenal Keeley, whose remarkable songwriting about her muse Inga Maria Hauser hits the mark every time. Scratches on Your Face is aimed at Inga Maria’s killer who has never been brought to justice, indicating the fight the tragic teenager put up in fighting off her attacker. Unfortunately I missed Keeley’s last visit to Glasgow, something which will be rectified on 5th of April when she supports Northside in King Tuts.
Horsegirl – Frontrunner
Not to be confused with the DJ who caused no end of baffled consternation to the staid UK press at this years Brit Awards, Frontrunner is another cracking single from Chicago based band Horsegirl’s second album Phinetocs On and On.
Cloth – Polaroid
In November Glasgow’s Cloth returned with perhaps one of my favourite singles they have released to date. It somehow passed me by then, so I’m including it now….Polaroid is joyously upbeat, a song with a deep warming resonance and a reassuringly smooth texture in the production and layering and blending of the instruments and their increasing intensity and Rachael’s soothing vocal.
Cloth
The Armoires – Green Hellfire at the 7-11
There is a weird synergy between this song and another in this months round up from Helen Love’s latest project The Double Diamond Club, maybe it’s just me, but either of these bands could have recorded each others songs! The Armoires are part of the burgeoning Big Stir roster and Green Hellfire at the 7-11 comes from the bands wonderful 2024 album Octoberland, another of those records which fell through the cracks and never got reviewed in these pages…