“Paris” by Hairband

Paris was burning last week, with temperatures in the 40s. But Paris is totally cool now, thanks to Glasgow 5-piece band Hairband, with a fresh breeze of a new single of that name:

Hairband’s French language skills exceed my dim memory of High School French, but it’s their music and infectious enthusiasm for creating rule-bending pop that wins once again.

“Paris” finds a new way to combine bass and drums, three interwoven counter-point guitar patterns, and melodic lighter-than-air voices, into a gloriously melodic rhythmic push and pull of a timeless post-punk funk tune.

As with Hairband’s fine 2018 EP this song (and its digital ‘B-Side’ “Varipapa”) doesn’t sound like anything from the post-punk era so much as simply and effectively capturing the exploratory, non-conformist experimentation of those times. Qu’est-ce qu’ils sont sur?

 

“Bubble Sword” by Hairband

Glasgow 5-piece Hairband -which features members of groups Spinning Coin, Breakfast Muff, Lush Purr and Kaputt – has just released a self-titled first 12″ EP last week. Here’s “Bubble Sword” from the EP –

When “Flying” by Hairband was featured on PopLib back in April the song came to notice via a charity fund-raiser compilation of music by an eclectic cast of Glasgow artists. “Flying” intrigued because of its unique style – that rare phenomena of something that sounds fresh and different while still indisputably part of the family tree of ‘pop music’.

Happily it was the advance rider of this 5 song 12″ EP, via their local Glasgow record shop label Monorail Music, released last week. The self-titled debut release from Hairband includes “Flying” and, as should be obvious from the wonderful “Bubble Sword” here, finds 4 more ways to bend the rock and pop ‘rules’ and delight.

“Bubble Sword” is constructed on restless post-punk funk bass and drums, with some avant-garde counter-point guitar patterns over top, emulating a re-purposed Afro-beat kind of rhythmic propulsion, then with a more straight forward noisy sing-a-long chorus.  It doesn’t sound like anything from the halcyon days of post-punk, but it does capture the possibilities of that era for music to go in multiple different directions – sometimes in the same song.

That rhythmic push and pull is at the musical heart of the EP. Each song is a different and distinct thing; related but separate musical events. Each song weaves and braids the band’s instrumentation and voices in different patterns of melody, tone and rhythm. Everything contributes to the whole, and more often than not the instrument that leaps out with something unexpected and audacious is one of the three guitar parts. Listen to “White Teeth” in particular for some sublime guitar interplay.

More than anything else the EP transmits the exploratory joy of a group of friends collaborating apparently without fear, and without self-imposed restrictions tying the music or playing to any particular style or genre. Whatever the chemistry or methodology is here, Hairband have clearly found something that works for them. And also, happily, for us as listeners.

“Flying” by Hairband

Here’s another new song from that excellent charity fundraiser album “Glasgow Nights”, released as a fundraiser for anti-poverty charity Money Advice Scotland. Hairband are new on the Glasgow music scene and “Flying” is a delightful gravity-defying slice of loping melodic guitar pop.

“Flying” is built on a kind of rhythmic lead bass part which, in its own strange way, is vaguely reminiscent of the playing of Derek Forbes of Glasgow stadium rockers Simple Minds in their early 80s heyday.

Over top there’s a the gentle push and pull of guitar with a keyboard melody, all of which is also weirdly reminiscent of the feel of of another 80s Glasgow band – Orange Juice – during their later pop phase.

But everything on “Flying” is assembled in its own unique and loose DIY way, and topped with a swaying, lighter than air vocal musing on the (meta)physics of flight without the help of powered aircraft. It all adds up to perfect leftfield pop.

There’s rumours of a first release of their own on the way from Hairband. On the strength of “Flying” PopLib will be all over that when it appears.

[UPDATE: Glasgow record store Monorail Records release Hairband’s debut EP on 19 October 2018.]

 

“Boats” by The Pastels

A new song from The Pastels is always worth sharing. Even more so when it is from a fine compilation called “Glasgow Nights” fundraising for Scottish anti-poverty charity Money Advice Scotland. Here’s “Boats”:

“Boats” is a gorgeous song about living in and savouring the moment and continues the fine autumnal form The Pastels showed on their excellent 2013 album “Slow Summits”.

The “Glasgow Nights” album is a wonderfully eclectic celebration of Glasgow music and culture past and mostly present. As if songs from The Pastels, Mogwai, Sacred Paws and Franz Ferdinand, and newcomers Hairband, along with PopLib favourites Spinning Coin, are not enough, there’s also “No Mean City”, theme song from “Taggart” sung by Maggie Bell, for those who remember the gritty 1980s-1990s Scottish TV detective series (“it was muhrrrrduhrrrr”).

Well worth treating yourself to a compilation of mostly new sounds and donating to a good cause while you do so.