10″ yellow vinyl + download the new EP ‘Duke’, the new single from Glasgow’s Tuff Love. It’s the first track to be taken from the band’s forthcoming release, DREGS E.P. – which will be out November 6th 2015, on 10″ vinyl + download, via Lost Map Records.
Completing their triumphant trio of introductory EPs, one of Scotland’s most exciting new bands, Tuff Love, release their new EP ‘Dregs’. The follow-up to the critically-acclaimed, sold-out and for the foreseeable future digitally deleted EPs ‘Junk’ (“the makings of a very special band” -DIY Mag) and ‘Dross’ (“they’re a hell of a prospect” – The Skinny) as well as the Record Store Day 7″ single ‘Groucho’ (“a windstorm of fuzzed-out, sun-bleached exuberance” – Line of Best Fit), ‘Dregs’ is the latest, most confident-sounding and most compelling product of their increasingly sophisticated homespun craft – lo-fi in ethic but not in sound. From the distorted jangle of ‘Duke’, through the snapping ‘Crocodile’ with its wonderfully wonky outro organ solo and on to the woozily waltzing ‘Carbon’, Dregs is solid gold irresistible listening from first to last. For fans of The Breeders, Lush and Veruca Salt.
Taken from the forthcoming Dregs EP, out November 6th 2015 on Lost Map Records.
Tuff Love are Julie Eisenstein (guitar, vocals) and Suse Bear (bass, vocals) plus live drummer Iain Stewart (also a member of The Phantom Band). They come from Glasgow and they write dazzling, sun-streaked guitar pop songs with mesmerising lyrics, heart-wrenching vocals and dreamy melodies like the sound of pure summer. They make all their music in Suse’s flat, self-engineering and self-producing everything.
Following the release of their debut, Junk E.P., in May 2014 – on dazzling 10” white vinyl, via Scottish independent label Lost Map Records – the band embarked on tours of the UK and mainland-Europe, as well as enjoying an endless summer of festivals.
A packed spring and summer of 2015 saw Tuff Love personally invited to support first reformed shoegaze legends Ride on their first UK tour in 20 years and then later their most famous fan, Scottish soul-pop singer Paolo Nutini, at a special one-off outdoor show at Glasgow’s Bellahouston Park (also featuring legendary disco queen Grace Jones).
Adored by radio – and championed by the likes of Lauren Laverne, Steve Lamacq, Rob Da Bank, Huw Stephens, Gideon Coe, Vic Galloway, among many others – Tuff Love were filmed in session for BBC Introducing, and also performed as part of the BBC Academy series. The press have been equally smitten; with two separate features with The Guardian (“a band to fall in love with”), a 2 page interview in DIVA (“our new favourite indie band”), profiles in NME Radar (“great college rock”), Metro and Daily Record, amongst other national publications, and with the JunkE.P. receiving glowing praise across the board – both online and in print.
Tuff Love have played festivals including Glastonbury, T in the Park, Latitude, Wickerman, Indietracks, Long Division and many more. In November 2014 ‘Slammer’ – the lead single from the sophomore release, Dross EP – won the Rebel Playlist on Steve Lamacq’s show on BBC 6 Music by a landslide. That track and each of their new tracks released since, ‘That’s Right’ and ‘Groucho’, have subsequently been B-listed by BBC 6 Music.
The Dregs EP is the latest, most confident-sounding and most compelling product of their increasingly sophisticated homespun craft – lo-fi in ethic but not in sound. From the distorted jangle of ‘Duke’, through the snapping ‘Crocodile’ with its wonderfully wonky outro organ solo and on to the woozily waltzing ‘Carbon’, Dregs is solid gold irresistible listening from first to last.
Glaswegian outfit Tuff Love raised a few eyebrows when they were announced as the main support act on Creation Records stalwarts Ride’s comeback tour in May. However, anyone that witnessed their dynamic opening slots were left in little doubt at their ability to shine on the biggest of stages. Which is no mean feat for a band who only put out their first record just over a year ago. Essentially the baby of core members Julie Eisenstein and Suse Bear, their sun drenched harmonies and simplistic melodies tied together by a lo-fi hail of fuzz and distortion remind us of Teenage Fanclub or The Shop Assistants at their most effervescent.
The Fat Angel Sings 