Latest Gulcher release by GAYS IN THE MILITARY is a relentless slice of frantic bile that might be offensive if you could hear the words over the racket. It’s not without a certain hairy-arsed charm and their version of The Butthole Surfers “Human Cannonball” is what Roxy Music might have sounded like if they’d been bred in captivity on a diet of raw, CJD ridden meat. The cover, by the great – somewhat MIA – Peter Bagge is a sight for sore eyes and indicates as the title claims that “People is" indeed “Beautiful”. (Available in Europe via Volcanic Tongue)

AMY RIGBY has a new album "LITTLE FUGITIVE" out August 23rd on Signature Sounds.

Order it direct from her or score it from any self-respecting music outlet. If she plays a show near you then cut along to that and buy one there.

I don't actually care how you get your mitts on one, just see that you do.

Finland’s BRANDED WOMEN indulge us in the beast called twang. Their understated, slow burn pop really begins to smoulder by the time you get to “You Know Me” on the “Velvet Hours – Stolen Moments” album. There’s a dark, secret agent vibe to their sound which is more Matt Helm than James Bond if you get my drift. Those swirling psychedelic keyboards offset any tradition comparison. They remind me of The Paradise Motel without actually sounding like them. There’s no conventional pigeonhole for them although they deserve to sell as many “units” as The Cardigans. That Scandanavian mystique provides multi-layered possibilities to the listener with a cinematic canvas. This is ideal soundtrack music because it swings surreptitiously and works equally well at different volumes to convey alternate moods. I think their strength lies in the fact that it never cuts loose into overstatement. That’s what sets it apart. Where it sears itself “brand”-like into your napper. A cool breeze of an album that’ll be just the companion you need as they nights start drawing in toward winter.

“Second Best” is the first single from the follow-up album and it’s anything but. The evocation of their debut have been honed to create something that’ll sound very infectious on the radio. The additional song on the cd single is“Not A Love Song”, a hypnotic shuffle that could well have been assembled in Australia. It has that isolated, patently twisted whiff that something could go off at any conceivable second. I like that suspense factor and wish that more acts would employ it

Photo by Aki Roukala

The first branch of the Scottish franchised RADIO THRIFT SHOP opens this coming Friday (12th August) on BBC Radio Scotland with Glen Campbell cutting the ribbon. Might be worth starting to queue now.

August is gathering momentum then. The thought of having to go into Edinburgh today is something of a pain. The capital kicks off it's money-printing campaign with a dirty big Festival Parade which draws people like a big gaping hole in the road attracts council workers. It's gonna be crowded and horrible but not necessarily in that order. Half a rain forest is employed at this time of year to print hopeless flyers which end up littering the streets of the city. Seems like most of the watchers have mittens for hands and they can't actually hold sheets of paper or put them in a bag to recycle when they get home. I'm not sure there will be bins to put them in. Security dictates that an open bin might be a magnet for potential bomber types to drop their wares in. I notice that the bins in Polmont are only available when the station ticket office is open. I was going to say "manned" but that would be sexist and it is Sunday after all. I'll spare you my Nigel Tufnell impression. So time to get into the mindset... wonder what they're gonna do about all the backpacks that are undoubtedly heading for Auld Reekie?

Update at 11.16pm: Your humble scribe is nothing if not resourceful and upon hearing a trailer that Indie-pendant Scotland was being repeated, one decided to blow out the notion of heading to Edinburgh. I'm not a feartie - wary of prospective explosions or any of that, I just didn't have the stomach to go amongst a prospective 200,000 crowd in Princes Street. Plus I'm gonna be over there a ton of other times during the next month. So here I am in the old "midden-heid" about to tackle some of the album action. Meanwhile if you're interested in Scottish Music circa '77 up then tune into IS via the play again function. Click on the wee speaker at the title. Tis very entertaining, particularly the Bruce Findlay stories.