Armed with heartbreaking melodies, crashing drums and a tornado of white noise, Glasvegas are the thrilling sound of young Scotland.
Well-versed in rock's rich history, they marry classic 50's songwriting with the sinister fuzz of Suicide and the Velvets. Their songs could only ever have come from spending the last two decades in Glasgow's notorious east end. Senseless murders? Family breakdown? The pressure to conform to macho stereotypes? Just some of the things lead singer / guitarist and songwriter James Allan tackles, backed up by Paul Donoguhe (bass), Rab Allan (Guitar), Caroline Mckay (drums) and their thundering wall of sound.
"When you come from a place like Dalmarnock, being in a band isn't as simple as picking up a guitar and saying ‘I'm in a band'," says James, aware that his music stands out a mile from the current crop of identikit guitar groups. "People there think you're a weirdo just for playing an instrument - it's pretty hard for young people to express themselves."
Yet Glasvegas have done more than just pick up guitars. For these are songs that bare emotions, expose a fragility, dare to tell the truth about the human condition. So whilst
tracks like ‘I'm Gonna Get Stabbed' paint a gritty portrait of their hometown (which thrilled inmates on their recent tour of UK high security prisons), elsewhere it's a
different story.
Take forthcoming single ‘Daddy's Gone', which spells out the pain caused by an absent father. "All I wanted was a kick about in the park/For you to race me home when it was nearly getting dark," sings James, over Spector-esque drum thuds. It's utterly heartbreaking, as is the flip side ‘Flowers & Football Tops', inspired by a mother who lost a son in a murder that shocked the city.
Each one is a stone-cold classic, soulfully wrapped in James' thick Glaswegian accent. "I hear the Glaswegian accent and to me it's got the same romance to it that I hear in the characters in The Godfather or Raging Bull," he says. "But a lot of people from here don't always think that. We were brought up to hide it, people aren't proud of it. I want kids from the east end to realise that it's ok to sing like this."
They already are, as the buzz around Glasvegas grows. Their devoted fanbase has ensured that every hometown gig this year has sold out, whilst copies of their first release ‘Go
Square Go' were devoured within a day of release. Daddy's Gone will no doubt be snapped up in double quick time. They have already toured with Dirty Pretty Things & The Charlatans, and Ian Brown personally invited them to support him on his October tour after being handed
a demo of ‘Daddy's Gone.'
