i94bar1200x80

scotland

  • dangerous mindsThey don’t half mind talking politics north of Hadrian’s Wall, but few Scots manage to mix it with scorching rock and roll like this crew. “Dangerous Minds” is the third Media Whores album since they formed in 2008 and sounds exactly like its title warns.

    Pointed and to the point, The Media Whores don’t embrace lyrical subtlety. They attack subjects like fracking (“Frack Off”), cybersex (“Computer Love Affair”), materialism (“Zombies of Mayfair”), crooked cops (“Raking It In”) and all parts in-between with zealous glee. Musically, they run the gamut from hard-edged, new wave pop to punk rock.

  • haunted ballroomSongs from a Haunted Ballroom - Skids (Cleopatra)

    Glam via Bowie, Roxy, Ultravox! and original punk, this LP is intense.

    I don't like cover bands as a rule. Very few get close to improving or mimicking the original (even if they did write the original). And as for the Australian series “Like a Version' - what a rubbish gimmick.

    In case you didn't know, The Skids reformed in Scotland more or less as a fun thing a few years ago, and in 2018 released a new LP ("Burning Cities" on No Bad Records) which I also have ordered from my long-suffering record shop.

  • dislocationRock and roll isn’t dead - it’s just being ground into the carpet like so much stray cigarette ash by the powers of mediocrity and digital division. If you apply the vacuum hard enough and in the right places, you’ll still find it.

    So point the nozzle of your Hoover (or Dyson, if you’re cashed up) in the direction of Glasgow, Scotland, and suck up as much of The Primevals as you can. Three decades into their existence (admittedly, with a break in the middle), these gnarly Scots are staking a claim for independence from the banal indifference that passes for mainstream radio rock, Jock.