Summer Recap

I’ve been posting new music Friday related posts on my Instagram each week for about a year now, for the next couple months I’ll instead put things on here before going back to insta. I don’t want the page to be completely empty when I upload the first post, so here’s a couple things that were released over the summer that I ended up listening to a lot.

I’ll start with what was released by local bands since it’s a scene that I love and there’s a lot of talent in Glasgow right now:

First off is the Roly Mo's newest single “Cuttin’ About” which was released in late June, a class track as expected and again shows how much potential they’ve got as a band. They’re definitely one of the most up and coming and with continually supporting other bands in the area they’ve got a lot ahead of them. They’re releasing another single in October too so I’ll speak about that as well.

The Roly Mo - Taken by IG @lensyhenry

In terms of ep's The Vanities released their first with “Well it’s not my fault if you think I’m uncultured”, the EP featured two previously released songs ‘38’s’ and ‘Gang Culture’ which come complimented by new songs “Smash N Grab” and “Scumbag”. The EP as a whole is exciting and acts as an insight into this demographic of Glasgow youth. Showing no sign of slowing down, the vanities have since released another single “Mary Jane”.

To round off the Glasgow scene over summer we seen Gallus release “Actual Factual” on the 30th of August, the single sees the band explore governmental conspiracy theories over Gallus' typical combination of indie rock guitar and brass accompaniment. The night this was released I had seen them play in King Tuts Wah Wah Hut, the full set can be watched using the link below. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_EybWd_3ZM

These three releases I’ve written about are only the tip of the iceberg of what’s been going on in Glasgow, other notable releases over the summer are “Do it to myself” by Voodoos, “Back in FK” by Pleasure Heads, “Otherside” by Spyres and “Imitation” by The Ninth Wave. All of which are brilliant in their own right and stand testament to why Glasgow currently has one of the best music scenes around.

My favourite release across the summer by far is Brockhampton’s 5th studio album Ginger. In anticipation the group released four of the individual tracks each week before releasing the album the next day after the fourth release. Stand out songs for me are “If you pray right”, “Love me for life” and “No Halo”. Initially I wasn’t sure about the album but over time it grew on me. It brings something different from the saturation trilogy with the addition of Slow Thai a brilliant one. Whilst Ameer Vann needed to be kicked from the boyband as it had come out that he had an abusive past, something Brockhampton fundamentally stand against, I can’t help but feel that the remaining members have failed to fill the shoes of Ameer Vann. That being said it has been nice to see members like Joba and Dom McLennon develop their individual styles more given the additional share of the mic.

Brockhampton - Taken for an interview with NME

Her’s are arguably one of my favourite bands of all time, I first seen them in Spain and couldn’t stop listening so them since so I was obviously heartbroken to heart about their fatal car crash whilst touring in America, which killed both Stephen and Audun as well as their manager. Yung Heazy covered their song “Cool with you” in his latest ep “Lullabies” as a tribute. The attempt was as good as any and seen Yung Heazy taking out the electric feel of the original and replacing it with the acoustic guitar style that’s present in most of his album. Admittedly when I heard it first time round I got sad and listened to it for about an hour on repeat.

Since his first studio album “Where Polly People Go to Read”, Gus Dapperton collaborated with B Hayes to release the EP “In Passing 001”. The EP is completely different from his discography so far with the influence of B Hayes apparent. As far as electronic music goes I’m actually a really big fan of it with the standout tracks being the one you can hear Dapperton sing on “Give it to me straight” and “I got the floor”. I’ve been a big fan of Gus since he was an artist on Bandcamp and seen him a bunch of times since then. What makes me like the EP and Gus even more is the fact that all proceeds have gone towards supporting the homeless LGBTQ+ youth in New York.

Gus Dapperton

Lastly Rex Orange County released “10/10” which I like so much more than his single before that “New House” which didn’t do a lot for me. “10/10” features his usual pessimistic lyrics about lacking in confidence though this time have a more up beat turn promising to change that view. He’s releasing his third studio album “Pony” on the 25th of October and playing to shows at the Barrowlands in late November which I’ve got tickets to and will be the first time I’ve ever actually seen him play. Exciting times to be a rex fan.