Browsing Tag

Scottish Alt Rock

Scottish alt-rock pioneers her picture showed us ‘The Nature of It’ with their debut single.

Scotland’s freshest 4-piece alt-rock ensemble, her picture showed us what originality sounds like in 2022 with their debut single, The Nature of It. Their citation of Ben Howard and Pink Floyd as their influences barely scratches the riff-powered surface of their blend of colourful reverb-dripping ambience and intensely overdriven rock.

Just as the records from My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive, and The House of Love demand to be listened to at maximum volume, the hauntedly beckoning vocals over the artfully proggy instrumentals that throw cataclysmic breakdowns at you at the drop of a hat were built for complete audiophilic immersion. I’m yet to hear another more visceral alt rock debut this year.

The Nature of It is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Frances Gein has released her infectiously antagonist proggy grunge-pop hit Lest for Stress

Frances Gein

The 90s-inspired LGBTQ+ singer-songwriter, Frances Gein, made her debut in 2021 after learning guitar during the pandemic – not that her latest single, Lest for Stress, will let you believe it.

The stellar grungy sad-pop hit will remind you of how sweet it was to discover your reigning rock icons as you lose yourself in the choral energy of the guitars and realise just how infectious The Scotland-based artist’s magnetic attitude is.

There are a few hints to hole in the lyricism, but sonically, Lest for Stress carries the same angsty soul as Blondie and The Pretenders while teasing hints of prog rock that lend themselves to the unpredictability of the earworm.

In her own words

“Lest for Stress is an angsty sarcastic social critique of being broke. It’s not a revolutionary song, but it’s a fuck you to everything, everyone, and even myself”.

She’s the icon we never knew we needed.

The single is due for official release on February 11th, 2022. You can check it out for yourself on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Artie Ziff have released the ultimate indie post-hardcore anthem, Masquerade

The Scottish alt-indie outfit, Artie Ziff, is the kind of artist that leaves you instantly perplexed at how they fly under so many people’s radars with their ability to organically weave a myriad of genres into their captivatingly high-octane sound. Their latest single, Masquerade, proves that they have exactly what it takes to reach the same heights as Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes, Bring Me the Horizon or Yungblud as alt-rock pioneers.

The proceedings kick off with a post-punk-style prelude before post-hardcore stylings start to work their way into the anthemically unpredictable hit. If you think The National’s guitars when they kick into sonic overdrive are something, you might want to strap yourselves in for Masquerade that brings just as much to the table vocally. Anyone that never completely grew out of their emo phase should definitely consider Masquerade a playlist staple.

The official video for Masquerade premiered on September 16th; you can check it out for yourselves by heading over to YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast