Song reviews

Belgian band Bullets&Knives do the angular euro rock thing rather well with “Trauma L3” mixing pulsating rhythms, hard edged, almost nihilistic, lyrics and power chords into their sonic stew. You’ll get a taste for it if you try.

Ever wondered what would happen if the cast of The Rocky Horror Picture Show got made redundant and had to take a job in a coffee shop? Well now you know and MeMo duly showtunes her way through “Untouchable” with true lipstick fervour. Glorious!

Whilst undoubtedly bleak and low key , Housewife demonstrate a pleasing ability to balance fragility with lo-fi grunge intent. “Patrick Bateman” might not therefore break the mould but there is something about those intertwined voices that makes happy ears.

“*sigh* Nevermind” is clearly a song with the potential to enchant and Asiatica lay down the low speed hypnotic groove that both takes the song through the night into the dawn and allows Asia Lacy the time to cast her spell. I indeed sigh.

Though only clocking in at three and a half minutes, “Sleeping Pills” feels like a song that has the legs to take it out to the full eight. The low key vocals and living in a box vibe give way to the kind of power chord overdose that would give Bruce Panagopoulos the energy to take it there

The Aquadolls return with the “Help im falling 4u and i can’t get up” and use this song to take their musical direction towards deeper and darker things. The pop sensibilities remain and, even at under 3 minutes, this song exudes maturity.

Resurrecting that eighties retro synth groove are Highscore and their song “Sugar Tips” duly ticks all the necessary Jermaine Jackson style boxes whilst throwing in enough lyrical references to Doja Cat to convince the listener that the song is fresher than 1987.

There are those who worship Jonathan Richman and there are those who have no taste. Get Set Go makes the right choice and, with twisted lyrics and a sarcastic take on the country sound, he takes the metaphor all the way to the bridge. It’s a dog’s life indeed.

GOCCO succeeds in mixing both pop focus and copious reverb into her synthwave beats. The resulting sonic snack is called “Endless” and it will satisfy your appetite until the last train arrives to take you home. It’s a night time song without a doubt.

Always one to plough the Americana furrow, Jim Byrne confirms his reputation as Glasgow’s most prolific purveyor of sentimental songs with “This Heart Of Mine Is A Blind Blind Fool” successfully using his world weary voice to balance out the sugary sweetness.

Retro synth disco must be in fashion these days and Tuff Bear duly proves that his finger is right on the pulse with “How It Feels”. There’s enough pop appeal to take this song into even today’s charts and enough space for a remixer to turn this into a dancefloor banger.

Splendidly retro in its urban grooviness, “Talk About” highlights Sarah May’s ability to join the sonic dots of the past with the rather bleaker sentiments of the modern day. Some might call this song deliberately derivative but that just ain’t so. Something so right!