Kowalskiy's Free Monthly 5-track Scottish EP #6

From the cover art of Kowalskiy's Free Monthly 5-track Scottish EP #6, you'd be forgiven for expecting a selection of Christmas themed songs.  There is one on there, but really its just another 5 great tracks from some of the best up-and-coming Scottish bands for you to enjoy over the festive period.  In there are some great bands I've come across in the last 12 months, and one or two who I'd expect to see make a big impact next year!  As always, I owe a great deal of thanks to the five bands who were kind enough to contribute these 'crackers'.  They are....

1. Dirty Keys - Only Happy Holidays (demo) (a yet-to-be-completed Christmas song!)

"We wanted to make a recording available to all you Santa fans this Xmas, even if it is just in demo form. We're playing our annual Xmas show on Monday 20th at the Captain's Rest, plus very special guests. You should come!" - Dave Gilles (Dirty Keys)

2. Johnny Reb - Emile (part one) (a snippet of what to expect next year from this much-tipped band)

"an ode to the ill fated boxer Emile Griffith" - Philip Hunter (Johnny Reb)

3. The Paraffins - I Think We're Alone Now (a cover of Tiffany's cult classic)

"I'm afraid its a cover (and one of the most done to death songs on the planet) but it's an exclusive I suppose! Originally did the backing track for a theme night at the Flying Duck earlier this year, so decided to finish it off on an 8-track cassette last week." - Billy Paraffin (The Paraffins)

4. Mammoeth  - Autumn (a non-album track from the artists formerly known as Team Turnip)

"Autumn is a song about coping with change, loving the skin you're in and my favourite season of the year all wrapped up and packaged as a neat wee metaphor. It was written in 2002 and I decided not to put it on the debut album (Nascent, since you asked - in all good record stores now) 'cause I felt it was too introspective, too lyrically oblique and not poppy enough. It was also not new and I was bored of it, much like one gets with all things familiar - wives and girlfriends excepted." - Russell Kostulin (Mammoeth)

5. Thirty Pounds Of Bone - I Was Meant For The Stage (live) (a live cover of The Decemberists' cracking track)

"I really like this song. It’s a beautifully warm and generous song and Colin Meloy is good with words. I learned it to play for a friend’s birthday party and I tend to play it at gigs that are either going badly, or have hardly any people at. It makes me smile. It sometimes seems like it’s a nice way to laugh at yourself in front of people, which any performer should be able to do. The song itself is both witty and tragic. It’s that sort of pathos that you find in statements that appear at first to be supremely arrogant. It’s that winning combination of massive egotism and purpose next to crushing insecurity. Suits me rather well…." - Johny Lamb (Thirty Pounds Of Bone)

Thanks a lot to everyone who contributed, not only to this EP, but to all the others this year.  All EPs are up for free download over on my bandcamp page, with this particular one here!  I hope you enjoy them!

Once Christmas is over, I'll get cracking on EP #7 which will be out on 16^th January.   If there's any bands out there who fancy making my life that wee bit easier and want to volunteer a track for one of these EPs, then send me a wee email.

Kowalskiy Belated Review #2

Hold the Suspect - Are You Home Yet?
Once again, there's been too many cracking releases I've been asked to review recently and I've fallen behind. The first is this great wee EP from Edinburgh's Hold the Suspect. Comparisons with fellow Scots Biffy Clyro and The Xcerts are bound to be made based on the opening, title track which is punchy and laden with some seriously catchy riffs. It's the next two songs though, Dive Into The Sun and Glass Half Full, that jump out at you. While the first is a reminiscent of Transformers-era Linkin Park (my guilty pleasure), the latter starts off as a surprising, stunning ballad with friend-of-the-band Freya Binning's angelic backing vocals, before exploding into life. All this before the all-guns-blazing finale of Society. It's only a few quid, so get it bought!

The Paraffins - Snout To The Grindstone
Technically speaking, as this cracking, crazy album isn't released until Monday, this review isn't belated. But given the time it's taken me to write about it, it feels that way. The Paraffins (or Billy) hail from the 'remote Scottish outpost of Knockentiber', and Snout To The Grindstone is the first in what will hopefully be many albums. Opener Untitleable is a taster of what the album has in store: hypnotic rattling, tribal drumming, high pitched wails and warped growls.... all in just over a minute! The rest is a bit more structured, with layer upon layer of sounds (conventional or otherwise), built up like Talking Heads going off theirs! Standout tracks are Something Good and the frantic People Like You which invites comparisons with Punch & the Apostles. To be honest though, the cover art sums the album up better than I can. It'll mess with your mind. A quite remarkable, musical mind f**ck!

Call To Mind - EP
It's been 2 years since I first seen Inverness' Call To Mind at King Tuts (in their fetching white rainsuits) threatening to steal the show from the headline act Broken Records. Since then, the band have been busy recording their debut eponymous EP. Finally, the fruit of their labour was released back in March. Every bit as captivating as their live show, this EP is great! It 'calls to mind' the atmospheric soundscapes of Sigur Ros with a dark, moody, almost Joy Divisionesque feel to it. The opening and closing tracks, A9 and I Have A Photograph, are proof you don't have to be Icelandic to pull this sound off. I don't know who coined the phrase, but if this is 'Highland glacial pop', then this is it at its very best!