The final part of this month’s singles round up runs to 21 songs, bringing the total to 57 brilliant new songs for the first month of the year, 23 of these from Scottish bands/artists, a cracking start to the year I’m sure you’ll agree. Part 4 of the singles for January includes new singles from 3 bands that feature on the forthcoming New Sound of Scotland CD namely Cowboy Hunters, Vanderlye and The Froobz, and with Oedipus and the Mama’s Boys being on Part 3 of the round up, it’s already stacking up to be a great year for new music from the bands on the CD, the next couple of months are shaping up well with singles on the way from pedalo, Martha May and the Mondays and Sister Madds to name but 3…
As soon as I get the CDs delivered, I’ll post details on how to get your hands on one… it’ll be a case of when they’re gone, they’re gone…
First up on this part it’s the somewhat eery and menacing Dr Love from Would Be Goods, be well warned by the spookily haunting melody and don’t let the name fool you, this Dr Love is not there to heal you or mend your broken heart, rather he will pull the rug from under you and rip your heart to shreds.
It seems like quite a sinister start to part 4 of this month’s round up, with Inca Babies/Harry Stafford revisiting another of their old songs and reincarnating it as the album title suggests. The sparse arrangement with darkly ominous gothic guitar riffs alongside powerfully foreboding vocals ensure Superior Spectre hits hard.
In their own irreverential and inimitable style Cowboy Hunters say a huge fuck you to dry January with their ode to getting “cunted” it would seem while aiming to get sponsored by Tennents. “Everything’s fucked mate, everyone sucks but that’s all right” urges Megan before suggesting the solution is to Have a Pint… or five, before this live favourite descends into a chaotic melee of synth samples, bass rumble and pounding of drums.
I don’t know about anybody else, but I’ve secured my ticket for the return of Sugar to Glasgow’s Barrowland in June and already I’m excited about it. Long Live Bob Mould, Long Live Sugar and Long Live Love with this single which is everything you’d expect from Sugar, Mould’s distinctive ardent and full-hearted vocals atop layers of sonorous driving guitar riffs and synth melodies.
Vanderlye released this new single, One Way Train, ahead of their headline gig in King Tuts at the weekend, the song is a worthy addition to their ever burgeoning catalogue of singles and EPs, and demonstrates the bands trademark sound, exquisite vocal harmonies atop soaring guitar lines giving an overall soulful and emotionally wrought impassioned sound.
The Froobz continue to demonstrate why they are one of my favourite young Scottish bands right now, the powerhouse trio bringing the thunder once again on Not Ur Dog. Don’t let the slow burn intro or the coy “Hey how you doin’, I was here first sweetheart” fool you, this is another incendiary anthem, bursting with spiky fuck you attitude and barbed lyrics spat out with a fiery venom. Don’t mess with The Froobz.
In My Mind There’s a Photograph is the new album from Colin MacIntyre aka Mull Historical Society from which this single, Cattle Bells, comes. This song fairly packs an emotional punch, the arrangement, and the emotional delivery of the vocal really hits hard as MacIntyre recites the words of Sir Alexander McCall Smith as he reflects on life.
Following up the magnificent Who Wants to See the World, the second single to come from the new album, Girl on the Edge of the World, from the one and only Keeley is Hungry For the Prize, and the effect the song has on me is one of “it does what it says on the tin”, with me hungering for the prize with a desperate desire to hear the rest of the album, which if the two singles so far are anything to go by will be Keeley’s finest work to date. Every song, every album Keeley releases seems to raise the bar from what came before, which is a feat in itself given how stunning that catalogue is already. This album will be the first Keeley has recorded as a “band” with Lukey Foxtrot on bass and former Morrissey drummer Andrew Paresi on drums and the overall sound the band have achieved on these singles so far sounds like this has been a triumph. If only Inga Maria was around to hear these songs that are a permanent record and celebration of a life cut off in her prime.
This single is the title track of their new album and Gypsy Pistoleros are in the fine fettle here, and in my humble opinion, in the form of their lives with Dark Faerie Tales, probably their best work to date. This single hits top gear from the outset, a glorious riot of Glam-tinged hard rocking with a video that is a helluva a lot of fun. The band bring their own brand of Faerie Tale Glam Punk Rock to Dunfermline and Edinburgh in April as part of their UK tour. Are you ready for it?
It’s hard to believe that Savages Adore Life album is 10 years old… and to celebrate the anniversary the band have released two songs from that era, the first is a cover of Black Sabbath’s Paranoid as you’ve never heard before, packed with an delicate intensity that shows the song can pack as much of a punch slowed down and stripped back as it does in full Sabbath mode. The other song on offer is the sparse and stirringly atmospheric Prayer. I’m off to listen to Adore Life now, what an album that was, and what a band.
Bristol post punk band The New Cut have announced the release of a new EP in March, Sleepers, Mourners from which this single London, Out There comes, with a sense of foreboding in the arrangement and an air of despair in the haunting vocals that reflect the theme of the song in the ever-changing skylines in our cities and the ever hastening encroaching of our green spaces.
I can’t not include the new single from The Monochrome Set in a month when The Bluebells released a new single called A Monochrome Set… absolutely no connection, but hey… Lotus Bridge comes from The Monochrome Set’s forthcoming 17th album of the same name.
From European Sun’s new album When Britain Was Great, comes the third single to be released the highly addictive and humorous Falling Down the Stairs with Arthur Seaton, a nod to the character in Saturday Night, Sunday Morning falling down the steps drunk in reference to the tendency we have to fall back on a drink when things aren’t going the way we’d hoped… the response to the refrain of “You’ve still got me to believe in…” of “not quite, not yet, not even” brings a wry smile to this listeners face…
Lovey is the new single from Irish duo Burglar and its packed to bursting with glorious harmonies and uplifting melodies despite it being “…a breakup track I wrote a week after it happened.” according to Eduardo Pinheiro, one half of the duo.
If you follow the blog regularly you’ll know about my soft spot for Sloan Brothers through my discovery of their System Update album on 2022, a definite undiscovered classic, which I still listen to regularly. I Can’t Sleep comes from the new album from the band due to be released on the 13th of February. Ironically the song is joyful and uplifting given the theme of the lyrics, it’s a sound and a mood that has Sloan Brothers written all over it, and for that alone, I love it
The instantly recognisable warm burr of Steven Lindsay, vocalist for The Big Dish, feels like a safe warm hug on this heartrendingly beautiful single Elsewhere, which comes from the album Chords and Colours due out in May. Magical and utterly captivating
The third single to come from the new album from The Just Joans is Oh Veronica, How Right You Are. I just reviewed their superb new album, read the whole review here.
One of the Glasgow’s biggest success stories of recent years Dead Pony return with a real sense of urgency on this fast paced, hard edged track, with a hardcore insistent synth rhythm at its core, topped off with machine gun drumming and crunching guitar riffs and Anna’s familiar vocal more than a match for the intensity of the song. Eat My Dust indeed.
If you love the lo-fi nature of Eels, you’ll love the new single from Reluctant Bob and the Lonely Lovers, just let the laid back dreamy nature of Dreamager wash over you and all will be well with the world.
The whole of the January Playlist can be found on Tidal, here’s a handy link for you…