Catholic Action are a product of Glasgow’s famously fertile music scene but have won fans across the UK thanks to their peerless pop masterpieces. After a run of rapturously received gigs in their hometown the group released their long-awaited debut release for Luv Luv Luv Records (Spector, Only Real, Splashh, The Garden) earlier this year.
The four-piece band are centered around the singular talents of vocalist and guitarist Chris McCrory – already known among key taste-makers as the drummer in Casual Sex, another of Glasgow’s leading musical lights. McCrory, still only 24, became a full-time producer and recording engineer straight from school after establishing his own studio. While helping many of the artists in Glasgow’s burgeoning DIY scene, McCrory is also an exceptional songwriter in his own right and his group quickly became the most talked about in town.
Catholic Action were formed in 2014 by McCrory alongside Jamie Dubber on bass and Ryan Clark on drums. Andrew Macpherson later joined as lead guitarist to add extra sparkle to the group’s own brand of glam noise rock. The Glasgow band performed at a slew of this year’s’ tastemaker festivals including Live At Leeds, The Great Escape and Radio 1 Big Weekend and have announced a UK tour to coincide with a new single on Luv Luv Luv Records.
It’s already been a fantastic year for Glaswegian multi-instrumentalist Siobhan Wilson. As well as releasing There Are No Saints, one of the year’s finest albums, and appearing live in a session on 6Music, the Elgin-raised songwriter also cleaned up at the recent Green Man Rising competition earning herself a slot at the festival. Celebrating that triumph, Siobhan has announced a slue of new tour dates for September, as well as sharing a video to one of her debut album’s stand-out moments, Dark Matter.
Set to a stripped backing of electric guitar and minimal percussion, Dark Matter is a contemplative musing on the trials and tribulations of everyday living, as she contrasts life’s huge and minor mysteries noting: “nobody really know what dark is made of, or what goes on behind your eyes”. Discussing the inspiration behind the track, Siobhan suggests it is, “about all of the things you can never understand about life, time, space and people”. You shouldn’t need us, or for that matter Green Man Festival, to tell you that Siobhan Wilson is a talent undeniably on the rise.
Glasgow legends Catholic Action have announced their debut album!
Titled ‘In Memory Of,’ the band’s first full length is set to come out later this year on Modern Sky Records, with an exact release date yet to be firmed up. We do know a few more spicy details, however; ‘In Memory Of’ is co-produced by Margo Broom (who also manned the production desk for Goat Girl and Dead Pretties) and the band’s very own Chris McCrory.
Along with lifting the lid on news of their long-awaited debut, Catholic Action have also shared a brand tune called ‘Propaganda,’ and we’ve got the first spin here.
BooHooHoo are a Glasgow-based three-piece comprising of founding members and multi-instrumentalists Richard Richardson and Reggie House. Along with singer Liz Kiyoko, who they claim to have found in the ‘free to a good home’ category on Gumtree, the electro-pop trio are complete.
With the help of previous full time member and now session drummer Ewan Laing, BooHooHoo recorded their debut DebutHooHoo EP at the end of last year released via the Last Night From Glasgow label. The trio have since been working on their debut album with the help of producer Stephen Watkins,
The video for Fire was directed by Drew John Barnes in Glasgow’s Berkeley Suite featuring Kiyoko and a “mystery dancer” who the band claim to have “found in the fruit and veg aisle in Lidl.” Of the song, Kiyoko tells us: “Fire is inspired by an unrequited love interest. The video is a visual representation of exactly that.”
Fire is the new single by BooHooHoo! it is available 7th April 2017. Glaswegian trio BooHooHoo’s latest track possesses such a phat bass-line .
If you’re a fan of bands like The Cure and Echo and the Bunnymen, you’ll love UNDO’s modern spin on that sound. Their debut self-titled album was released just last week and has already received rave reviews from critics. They have a melancholy vibe with indie and punk influences, and aren’t afraid of making a proper racket. UNDO are newcomers to the scene, so get into them now so you can be that guy that says you knew them before they were famous.
UNDO are a four-piece from Glasgow who combine post-punk-influenced drums, intelligent basslines and hook-laden, destructive guitars with introspective, multi-layered and thoughtful lyrics.
Having only formed in 2016, they’ve already got quite a lot under their belts – thus far UNDO have clocked up appearances alongside the likes of Nothing and performed at Glasgow’s Stag & Dagger festival, as well as touring the UK with Adore//repel. They released their debut single as a split 7″ with Jutland Songs in August of last year and they’re set to self-release their self-titled debut album on 24th February 2017.
That brings us nicely onto new track Paint Me, taken from the upcoming album. As singer and guitarist Iain Bethel says “The song is by far our favorite on the record; it’s a positive (for once) composition about individuality, being carefree and hoping you are being your best self for people. I guess it’s a punk rock song soaked in reverb and chorus.
With the video filmed in UNDO’s own practice space, Bethel cites John Hughes movies and bands like The Cure and The Psychdedelic Furs as inspiration, hoping to create an “80s romantic vibe.” Of the video’s imagery, he explains: “The use of roses is a direct link to the lyrics – ‘Paint roses in my wounds / Paint me in bloom’. It also had to capture the energy of how we play live which it definitely does.
UNDO a rather apt name for this emo/post-hardcore group from Glasgow. A lot of their material seems to reflect on past experiences and things that people generally regret and want to change. However, ultimately their music endorses the idea that one must learn from the things they’ve made a mess of and continue to move forward.
Musically, their style is a hodge podge of many others. A melting pot if you will. The obvious touchstones would be the melodic/post hardcore scenes of Washington, DC and San Diego, but there’s also nods to the 80’s/90’s indie of the UK in the band’s sense of melody and to early post punk in the angularity of the riffs.
Those with a keen ear will hear influences ranging from Drive Like Jehu to Gang of Four. However, UNDO are much more than an oppurtinity to play ‘spot the influence’ as their vigour, dynamic awareness, and melodic sensibility elevate them above the copycat realm.
One of the oldest tracks on the album and one that’s been a constant staple in the set for a few years now. I remember feeling like we had really settled as a new band after our bass player Fraser joining and trying to get the sound back together again. We released this on a split 7″ with our pals Jutland Songs back in May and put a video for it via Ally at Wraith Media. There’s lots of Big Muff Fuzz going on with the lead in the recording too, never enough maybe? I was listening to a lot of the Philadelphia band Nothing at the time who we managed to play with last year.
Lyrically, it’s about never being able to hold onto any great feelings about anything(emo huh?) and generally continuing in a cycle that you feel isn’t changing anything for the better greatly and you have no idea what you’re looking for.
In my opinion, the greatest achievement on the album. We spent a lot of time crafting how everything would play off each other in this song. The combo of myself and Alan’s guitar and also how Fraser’s bass drives the songs changes so smoothly. We always know we have a super solid grounding with Joe’s drums which allows us to experiment with different layers on top. Like I love to soak this song in chorus and delay and always try to give it a kinda Cure/Psychedelic Furs feeling.
Unlike a lot of other stuff on the album, it’s written relative positively from a lyrical standpoint. The chorus words ‘your fate, your way’ is just really about accepting all the horrible shit and getting on with everything that you love. Its also about as positive a romantic song as I’m ever gonna write. It’s also getting a music video and is the lead single from the record.
I think this was the first song we wrote for the record. I love Fraser’s bass line. One of my favourite moments of recording the record was when I recorded the verse guitar line for this and Joe lost his shit. I like to think me and Alan surprise him a lot haha. Its one of the first tracks when we use two lead vocals, Fraser actually being able to sing comes through and puts all my punk moaning to shame.
I love the way the guitars combine on this track too, very clean and with lots of clarity in parts. The lyrics are about never being able to communicate ideas, with yourself and with others. It’s not the cheeriest. I like to think it remains hopeful though.
The bulk of ‘Scarlet’ was written by Alan in one of his hidden bedroom jams that we hardly ever get to hear. I think Alan has multiple records written in his house that he just keeps to himself and they all sound like next level Sonic Youth. This got recorded a lot faster than we had it originally (Joe likes that) but I much prefer it at this pace.
This is my mum’s favourite which is all that matters so Alan should be proud of that. It has a slightly more chilled feel instrumentally than some of the others, for us anyway. A lot of the lyrics relate to fire and brimstone ha ha. Its roughly about struggling to deal with your own mind and how it plays tricks on you. Another super positive spin from the Undo vault.
Our first successful attempt at a quieter song. It has a very reserved feel for the most part, clean simple guitars and a more laid back vocal approach. I really enjoyed recording these vocals with Paul (Mcinally, 45 a side studios) he didn’t have to correct my out of key screaming or shouting, I found it much easier to sing down low. The ending brings in a bit of noise, heavier vocal but for the most part it’s chilled.
I wrote it about perfection or the idea of it and how maybe it can never be achieved completely in my own mind anyway. There’s lots of questioning mortality etc in the words too. Sunshine, lollipops and rainbows as usual.
This song probably didn’t come out the way we intended in terms of how much attack there is in it. It’s a bit more of an onslaught than it probably needs haha. I remember being up really late in the studio through the night adding more and more noise to it with guitars.
I think in my head, it has kind of a post punk vibe to it in the verses. Lots of Wire and The National influences.
I like the way it changes between discordant and melodic. We also got Fraser to sing most of the chorus (see previous vocal post).
It’s a very angry song, feeling like you’re completely invisible and no path you can take in your life will change that. Feeling like you should maybe get that boring job that makes you miserable just so you look less weird to your peers. Something I’ll always avoid.
Listen out for Joe’s screaming rant at the end, we drank a lot in the studio and sometimes he just likes opening up ha ha. We recorded multiple vocals together for the outro and he just kinda lost his shit. He’s some boy.
One of the tracks we wrote quite last minute but one we play a lot live because it’s so much fun. There’s a lot of Zen Arcade era Husker Du influence in this track and it almost wavers into pop punk at points.
The vocal approach probably came out a little more forceful than I intended, It’s kind of just a big ‘Fuck you’ to all the shit that makes me feel insecure about where I’m at in my life. That probably makes me sound really juvenile but in this song I really don’t care. Do what you want to screw everyone else etc etc.
I love the guitar hook in the pre chorus bits too, the ending was never something I thought we would record but you get like twenty seconds of Undo as a hardcore band and as i say it’s a hell of a fun one to have in our set.
I was listening to a lot of the new Ceremony record when we started coming up with ideas for this one. It’s probably about as brooding as we have sounded. The release only really comes near the end, everything stays pretty creepy and dark.
We had ideas of doing a kinda horror film video for it but it hasn’t transpired as of Ayet. There’s lots of tape delay in the guitar towards the end and the drum pace never lets up. Lyrically it’s just me to try and convey as many horrible images as I can. I have a feeling of always holding everything in and never being able to open up.
Ahhhhh ‘The Living’. This was another late bloomer and one we never really managed to quite grasp what we wanted to do with it. I love Alan’s guitar hook in the verses, I think this song sounds a lot better in the album recording than it does when we try and pull it off live.
I think it has a lot of Title Fight influence in it. It was originally called ‘Negative Space’ until I remembered that’s a METZ song.
The song is basically about humanity and how it’s completely fucked forever and how no one, for various reasons, will ever really care. We don’t put this in the set too often but I’m keen to see how people perceive it.
A firm live favourite with the small batch of people who come to our shows. It takes a lot of influence from bands like Drive Like Jehu, METZ, Unwound. A perfect ending for the record I think, it’s a relentless attack of guitars, noise, feedback and rage. As the song progresses, melody creeps in before the final face melt.
The lyrics to ‘Murder’ are about being pushed down and forced to live a certain way. Feeling isolated, powerless but not defeated.
The indie rock sound is massively popular in Glasgow right now, to the point where it can feel repetitive. PAWS, however, offer a fresh sound that’s unlike any other bands on the scene. They take the reverb-drenched alternative rock that Glasgow seems to love and add a brighter style that sounds a bit more American. It’s no surprise, then, to hear their latest album, “No Grace” was produced by Blink-182’s Mark Hoppus. They have a more sophisticated style than blink’s pop punk, but it’s nice to bring a bit of sun to this grey city. With their first American tour kicking off this month, they’re already going global and could well be the next big thing to come out of Scotland.
BBC Radio 6 Music Festival festival has announced Depeche Mode as their headline act as the event heads to Glasgow in March.
Taking place between Friday 24th and Sunday 26th, Depeche Mode will take to stage on the final night for their first live UK show since 2013, and they’ll be performing tracks from their new album Spirit along with classic hits.
The last time that Dave, Martin and Andy performed at the 2,000 capacity Barrowland Ballroom was over three decades ago, in 1984 for their Some Great Reward tour.
Broadcasting her BBC Radio 6 Music show live from Glasgow School of Art today, Lauren Laverne revealed the full festival line-up – one which encapsulates the alternative spirit of the network – across the weekend:
Goldfrapp / The Jesus and Mary Chain / Belle & Sebastian/
Anna Meredith / Bonobo/ Ride / Cate Le Bon / The Shins / Future Islands / Sparks / Sleaford Mods / Songhoy Blues / Car Seat Headrest / Warpaint / Loyle Carner / Grandaddy / The Lemon Twigs / Honeyblood / DUDS / Dutch Uncles / Forest Swords / Gaika / Girl Ray / Haley Bonar / Julia Jacklin / Kadhja Bonet / Sacred Paws / Thundercat / Whitney/
The Glasgow post-punk band are making it their next port of call on their current tour. They’ve also got a new track too. ‘Doing Well’ aren’t they!. Glasgow’s Catholic Action return with their first new track of 2017, with their anthemic new cut ‘Doing Well’. The band also announce their signing to new independent label Modernsky, who will release their debut album later in 2017.
‘Doing Well’ was recorded and produced by Catholic Action singer/guitarist Chris McCrory and mixed by Tom Longworth (Vryll Society, Xam Volo).
A change of label has done little to dull the appeal of Scottish based band Randolph’s Leap. Having hopped from Lost Map back to their original home on Olive Grove, Adam Ross and his many-legged baroque-pop outfit plough a familiar furrow . Brass and strings are liberally peppered over ten tracks, but with none of the po-faced seriousness that such classical instruments can often bring. The Leap’s approach is more akin to Glaswegian mariachis Woodenbox, with a focus on fun melodies and raucous live shows; the 150-odd-second blast of Not Thinking will fit in seamlessly.
Regret and epic closer Saying Nothing do bring a more reflective tone and there’s a little progression here – Microcosm’s muscular (albeit stripped back) approach sounds more like the Pixies before it erupts into a big trumpet-laden sing-along. It’s a trick they often employ but it’s executed with such joyful abandon that only the hardest of hearts could complain.
Randolph’s Leap are an 8-piece Glasgow-based folk-pop hyphen-obsessed band made up of Adam Ross (guitar/vocals), PeteMacDonald (keyboards),Adam Florence (drums), Vicki Cole (bass), Andrew MacLellan (cello) and Heather Fox (violin), Fraser Gibson (trombone) and Ali Hendry (trumpet).
Crunchy second single from these Glaswegians is 100% fun. Their combination of Art Brut and Ash is one that could go wrong, but hasn’t yet.
Glasgow’s Catholic Action return with their vital new double a-side single ‘Rita Ora’/’Breakfast’, released on 7” vinyl and download 23 September via Luv Luv Luv Records.
A firm live favourite, ‘Rita Ora’ is playful take on their glam meets post-punk sound and follows their acclaimed single ‘L.U.V.’. The track is accompanied by the low-slung anthem ‘Breakfast’, which dials back the tempo of previously heard Catholic Action songs, without compromising the energy and songcraft.
Catholic Action are a product of Glasgow’s famously fertile music scene and have won fans across the UK with their inescapable melodies and equally fervent live show. After a run of rapturously received gigs in their hometown, followed by shows alongside the likes of Swim Deep, The Libertines and FFS, they released their long-awaited first single for Luv Luv Luv Records earlier this year (Spector, Only Real, Splashh, The Garden).
The four-piece band are centered around the talents of vocalist and guitarist Chris McCrory – already known as the drummer in another of Glasgow’s leading musical lights Casual Sex, and a producer in his own right.
‘L.U.V.’ gained massive support from the likes of DIY, NME, Best Fit and more. The track also received love from BBC Radio 1, where it made the BBC Introducing Playlist, Huw Stephen’s ‘Tip of the Week’ as well as being included in Annie Mac’s #NewNames.
The Fat Angel Sings 