YOWL, SNEAKY PETE'S, EDINBURGH, JANUARY 20 2026

2026 continues to be a year of bands I've never seen before, have never heard of, and have no clue about.  Here's another three. The only thing I know about these bands is how to spell their names.

Please excuse the appalling pics, but the smoke machine was working overtime and the bands were barely visible much of the time.

Line-up:

SAVE FACE: Gentle indie-pop. With a trumpet. At the merch desk they have many t-shirts for sale, but no recorded music. Nice stuff, though, even if it's very hard to see them at times, due to the ridiculously thick smoke on stage.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/bk1RsMVg3Zg   https://www.instagram.com/savefaceband/

3P SLOT MACHINE: Psychedelic alt-folk oddness featuring lap-steel guitar, something which might be a djembe, and slacker-esque vocals. And a very tall bass player. They have an EP available, but they don't play any of the songs from it, for... reasons. Great fun.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/LqfJxmAxmyE   https://www.instagram.com/3pslotmachine/

YOWL: Robust indie/post-punk balladeers based in, but not actually from, London, not unlike a rougher DAY SLEEPER. They go down well with the crowd, and quite rightly so.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/vO-qglILw1k  https://www.facebook.com/yowlmusic

CLOTH, LEITH DEPOT, EDINBURGH, AUGUST 12 2025

The first of two actual Edinburgh Festival Fringe shows this year. This one is part of a series of conversations with Vic Galloway combined with live sets. Tonight's show features indie kids CLOTH, fresh from their tour supporting the mighty MOGWAI. 

Incidentally, the ticket price for this gig included a £1.00 levy to help out independent venues. This is a VERY GOOD THING, and everybody should do it.

Line-up:

SIOBHAN WILSON: The wispiest of indie/alt-folk singer-songwriterism. Gentle and beguiling and absolutely lovely. Siobhan is SUFRECS, the organiser of this series of events. Her Bandcamp page would suggest that she has been doing this singing-songwriting thing for a number of years but she still displays a charming schoolgirlish excitement at doing it in front of an audience. A delight.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/sNwln8sTf2c   https://siobhanwilson.bandcamp.com/music  https://www.facebook.com/siobhanwilsonmusic

                                    

Next, we get the interview with Vic Galloway, well known DJ and presenter. Interesting, I guess, and a large part of the event concept, and even a chance for the audience to put a few questions to the band. However, the chat limits the band to a brief 5 song set, and I'd like to see more of them.

CLOTH: Glasgow-based but Borders-born twins Rachel and Paul Swinton, fresh off a big tour supporting Mogwai. They don't sound like Mogwai. Subtle, low-key indie, they're normally a three-piece, but they're playing without their drummer tonight. Which is odd, because he's here, at the back of the room, his duties being covered by a little box apparently called Roland. 

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/GNFMzXI7GEM   https://www.facebook.com/clothband