Honeyblood-Babes Never Die

Hi guys, welcome back to my blog. Thank you for returning to read again, or if this is your first time here then I hope you enjoy! Today I’ll be reviewing yet another Glaswegian act called ‘Honeyblood’. For those of you who aren’t yet familiar with the band, they are an indie rock duo consisting of lead singer and guitarist, Stina Tweeddale and drummer/backing vocalist, Cat Myers. The band was formed in Glasgow in 2012 when the pair met at a concert whilst they were in separate bands at the time.

Stina pictured (left) and Cat pictured (right)

Honeyblood are arguably most well known for their biggest hit ‘Killer Bangs’, which has close to 3 MILLION streams on Spotify. Overall, the band have a definite grunge feel to their music and have previously been related to other rock style bands such as Foo Fighters and Wolf Alice. They further maximise their sound in a similar way to rock-duo, ‘Royal Blood’ which allows them to be categorised in a unique manner. Stereotypically, a rock band consists of roughly 4+ members which allows them to create a ‘fuller’ sound however, this band are amongst a few which can create similar sounds with less musicians. Their first album, ‘Honeyblood’ was released in 2014 and it has a definite ‘girl power’ feel to it with other themes which were also explored, such as friendship and relationships. Fast forwarding to their most recent album, ‘Babes Never Die'(which was released in 2016), many of the songs on this album relate to the strength of women. It definitely has a relation to strong feminism. Furthermore, the 11th track on the album named ‘Gangs’ explores the lead singers up-bringing in an impoverished area in Edinburgh. Stina has also said to have a tattoo on her rib relating to her tough up-bringing, coming from a poor family and she has spoken out about the tattoo, saying that it is a “reminder of staying tough and doing whatever you want”. It is blatant that the lyrics of every song on the album come from a meaningful place. In addition, there is an intro and outro track which almost sets the album as a piece of art and allows listeners feel like it is a live gig experience. Specifically, the intro further creates a listening ‘experience’ for consumers and is a great introduction for the album as it contains many other strong tracks, such as ‘Ready for the Magic’ and ‘Sea Hearts’.

Declan Welsh and the Decadent West-So It Goes

Today I’ll be reviewing Glaswegian band ‘Declan Welsh And The Decadent West’ and their last release, ‘So It Goes’. The band have been no stranger to the Glasgow music scene, performing live for Tenement TV and even managing to bag a SAMA(Scottish Alternative Music Award) last year for best Rock/Alt act. They have created a strong fanbase with over 13,000 listeners on Spotify alone. To say they’re doing well for themselves is truly an understatement.

The band had early success in 2017 with their first single launch, ‘Mirrors’. The song took off and has gained almost 2,000 views on YouTube and over 10,000 streams on Spotify. The song kickstarted the career for the band who have since supported well known Scottish acts such as The Proclaimers and Glasvegas. The band consists of Declan Welsh (lead singer and frontman), Duncan McBride, Ben Corlett and Murray Noble and they are currently signed to ‘ModernSkyUK’.

In August last year, the band released their latest single ‘So It Goes’, which is what I’m here to review today for you. Firstly, the track is very much based around the strong narrative of Declan Welsh. He uses empowering speech throughout the song and it creates a real feeling of strength, it really is a statement song. The band recorded the song in 2017 in 7 West Studios in Glasgow city centre and have spoken about the lyrics being in relation to a book by Kurt Vonnegut.

Declan Welsh and the Decadent West will be performing at many festivals throughout the summer with Liverpool’s Sound city being one of the biggest opportunities the band has played at so far. They will also play ‘Live at Leeds’ alongside acts such as DRENGE, Sam Fender and Black Honey. I’m convinced that the band will continue to make great music, with their own twist allowing them to achieve their unique sound.

GALLUS-DON’T BE SHY

Indie/Punk band, ‘Gallus’ are thrashing through the Glasgow music scene at the moment. The band was formed in Glasgow and consists of lead vocalist, Barry Dolan, bassist Craig Duris, drummer Paul Ewins and guitarists, Eamon Ewins and Daniel Blake. Just having released their latest EP, ‘Don’t be Shy’, they have been showcasing their talent throughout many of the music venues in Glasgow such as Stereo, Priory and King Tuts. Just off the back of their first single release in 2018, they have since released two further singles and recently released their latest EP. It is fair to say, they have in no doubt been working hard in the studio. In addition to the well known music venues they have played at, they have also played at Scotlands music discovery festival, ‘Tenement Trail’.

The band are definitely making their mark in the music scene and their latest EP release is showing the progress the act is making. To give a closer insight into a review on the bands latest EP launch, the EP itself consists of 4 songs. The first song on the EP is, ‘Looking Like a Mess’-which was previously released as a single on Spotify, which has an overall upbeat and energetic feel to it. The next song on the EP is ‘Talk’, which is followed up by ‘Leave’, and ‘Split’ which has also previously been released as a single. The first song on the EP (Looking Like a Mess), is an outstanding introduction song for the EP and really makes a statement for the kind of music the band are creating. The song has relatable catchy lyrics, has been well written and incorporated with rhythmic guitar parts and an energetic bass guitar part.In my opinion, ‘Looking Like a Mess’ is the strongest song from the EP and it appears that the bands Spotify followers agree as the song has racked up an enormous 30,000 views in its first month of release.

The band have exciting things coming up, with one of their highlights being their first performance at the new Stag and Dagger multi-venue showcase; where they are set to play alongside acts such as Honeyblood, Ratboy and The Ninth Wave. I have no doubts that they will put on a great gig as they are a band that everybody should be watching out for. Great sounds, great gigs, they are really just gallus! I’ve attached a link below where you can purchase tickets for Stag and Dagger where you can see Gallus and many other up and coming bands in the Glasgow Music scene .

https://www.seetickets.com/event/stag-and-dagger-2019/multiple-venues/1295937