I’ve been neglecting singles round ups for a while, and as a result I’m STILL on May… and even then, I’ve included some older singles that I’ve missed along the way.
The penultimate May round up has a bit of a leaning towards harder edged/grungy rock in several of the songs, but there is still a good mix of genres, and another hearty dose of Scottish talent.
Fright Years – Never Been Wrong
Fright Years are playing in Edinburgh this week alongside her picture who feature in the final part of May’s round up with their single The Ram. Never Been Wrong is another soaring anthem with a powerful bombast which, as a huge Simple Minds fan, reminds me of their Once Upon a Time stadium rock era. Sublime production and the layering of the various instruments gives it a hugely open widescreen sound to match the vocal delivery, with Juliette giving an impassioned performance without ever being overwrought.
Moxies – Bonfire
The Seattle sound of the 1990s clearly has had an influence on Moxies for their single Bonfire, everything about the song displaying a respectful and definitive love of Nirvana, with the vocal channeling their iconic singer who hailed from the Washington town of Aberdeen. Guitarist Dan Reid has worked with Steve Albini in the past, a relationship which also appears to have had an impact on the bands sound re-igniting the West Coast US grunge sound in the incendiary fervency of the single, with lyrics influenced by memories of burning effigies on bonfires from childhood, and used as a platform to rail against corruption in society.
Gutterblood – Soliloquy
Soliloquy comes from the Gutterblood EP, Good Dogs Never Die, from last year. The track had a video released for it in May, hence the inclusion here. It was pure chance that it was added to my playlist after the Moxies single, the darkly oppressive tune, brooding and packed with an underlying sense of menace, feels like a natural extension tone of the preceding song picking up the mood from its outro in the slow burn bass intro to Soliliquy before it builds to a cacophonous mid-song peak.
ochre – Trouble in the Eye of the Beholder
The smouldering intensity of Moxies and Gutterblood continues into Trouble in the Eye of the Beholder from the PEN. EP from post-hardcore rock band Ochre, an insistent riff and a rumbling of drums creates a foreboding soundtrack for a vocal laced with a simmering undertone of rage which bursts to the surface in the screaming urgency of the refrain.
Oh Romance – Heaven
Oh Romance blend elements of earnest indie rock with emo/Blink 182 pop-punk stylings to create an energetic and impassioned melodic driving rock anthem. The entirely relatable lyrics speak of struggles with low mood and poor mental health, with a chorus delivered with ascendant optimism.
David Delinquent – The Lads are Away
David Delinquent seems to be everywhere right now, either with his band the IOUs or playing solo, as he is on this earworm of a single. Having first come to my attention with his original band The Delinquents and their album, About Last Night in 2017, David has since continued to create his own brand of melodic punk bangers in a variety of guises. Lads are Away is a nostalgia fuelled anthem to camaraderie and football away days, a positive and happy song friendship, pints and making memories, bouncing along with a bouyant energy and all wrapped up in a radiant melodic punk melody.
Wynona Bleach – Not Cool With It
There are certain parallels between Wynona Bleach and Glasgow’s Pistol Daisys who also feature in this part of May’s singles, with both bands creating songs with blend different styles of alt-rock with dance beats giving them a dancefloor filling/club aesthetic. Not Cool With It has a dual vocal and harmonies that, when paired with it’s guitar lines and riffs, have me drawing comparisons with several, what some these days would call “legacy,” bands like Sugarcubes and Garbage.
Dalmatic – One to the Next
One to the Next from Glasgow indie-rock band Dalmatic has the band creating a song that bristles with an emotional urgency, a forthright guitar melody runs through the spine of the song underlining a vocal packed with a visceral yearning, with a quietly tender mid song break. There are shades of Tom DeLonge and his Box Car Race/Angels & Airwaves bands in the vocals and melodies.
The Anchoress – Damsels
The powerfully lush dream pop anthem Damsels is the second single to be taken from The Anchoress latest album, As We Once Were. The single title is a reclamation of the word often paired with “in distress” in a powerfully feminist anthem including references to several historical figures, formidable trail-blazing women, writers and playwrights, political activists, proto feminists et al seeking equality as far back as the 1600s.
Eyes of Home – She’s So Down
Like Dalmatic earlier in this list, in She’s So Down Edinburgh indie rockers Eyes at Home have released a single with an urgent and passionate driving rhythm and upbeat energy in the template of The Killers with lyrics swathed in melancholy.
Pistol Daisys – Gimme the Sun
Continuing in the vein of upbeat and inspiring songs, Pistol Daisys latest single Gimme the Sun brings its own sunshine even when the Scottish skies are grey and the rain is falling. The song has a sheen of cool nonchalance and an unhurried swagger with a dancey vibe, with plenty of hooks and sweet vocal harmonies.
Sean Harrison & Band – Marks That Make Us
Sean Harrison & Band take the pace down a few notches with the atmospheric Marks That Make Us, an affecting ballad talking of the trails and tribulations of life that make us the people we are. The song comes from the Isle of Lewis based bands album Edge of the Storm.
Human Renegade – Insaniac
If you are of a certain age, you may remember a certain Peter Andre coming up with one of his new songs in the jungle, the story of resultant single Insania popped into my head when I first saw the title of the Human Renegade single. Thankfully that’s where the comparison ends, with the single providing the absolute antidote to everything about the dreadfully cheesy Antipodean pop star, its meld of emo and metalcore fusing together crunching guitar riffs and a pounding backbeat to give it a sound that sits somewhere between My Chemical Romance and Being Me the Horizon.
Youth For Sale – Enter State
Atmospheric keyboards usher in Youth for Sale’s Enter State before lush, two-part vocal harmonies take over and the rest of the instruments start to layer, the inclusion of strings helping to create a sound that recalls the mix of the goth aesthetic and baroque dream-pop of 80a band Shelleyann Orphan, a band I saw aeons ago supporting The Cure on their Disintegration tour.
Bandit Country – Other Like Me
Two appearances for Youth for Sale’s David Carruthers as his other band Bandit Country also released a single in April which I missed in that month’s round up. Other Like Me opens with an incessant thunderous beat, introducing David’s evocative vocal before the multi-textured clamorous post-punk guitars kick in giving the song an overall feel of another of Robert Smith favourite bands and support for The Cure, The Twilight Sad.