The album launch of Dreams Are Mental.
It’s Saturday night in Glasgow and I’m heading to Slay on Glassford Street for the first time to see and hear The Girobabies launch their album Dreams Are Mental.
First impressions are always important, and it’s an impressive introduction to the venue with a couple of bars either side of a fairly substantial stage. It might be a basement setting, but there’s plenty of light to see everything that’s going on and plenty of space for everyone to get a good view of proceedings. Good start to the dream night.
Girobabies are obviously the main attraction on the night, but they’ve assembled an inspiring array of warm up acts to get the evening off to a flyer before they hit the stage.
Kicking off the entertainment is SCHEMEHING Cypher, a collection from the world of Hip-Hop including, GASP, CCTV, Pro Focus, Kamihamiha, E-Yin and Don Jenkins.
For me, there’s something about tonight’s crop of Hip-Hop that’s both intriguing and frustrating at the same time.
The backing tracks are inevitably well selected to match the vocal onslaught that has been hooked up to the track and on their own, the music is well worth a listen to, whether as a toe tapper or hip swayer.
Where the frustration stems from is trying to pick out the actual lyrics that are set to accompany the music.
Not having too great a depth of knowledge about the genre at present, I’m not qualified to determine how good each rapper was, though it appears things have moved on substantially since the early days of Dr. Dre, Snoop Dog and Eminem when the stories being sung could be followed.
Either way, the SCHEMEHING session opener was an enjoyable run through of both tracks and individual personalities.
Next up was Ocean Views, an Ayrshire trio with a strong hint of the indie band about them.
The tracks played were a mix of both old and new, the latest being off their recently released EP – Albion while a number came from their debut album Introducing the Merry Magic F**ken Ocean Views.
Anyone who may have read previous gig reviews here won’t be too surprised to find they definitely caught our attention. The guitar playing of David Bothwell, bass of Cammy Findlay and drums of Jack Dillon were tightly set against short, sharp indie pop songs. There was space withing songs for some virtuoso guitar riffs, however they never crowded out the fine melodies that underlined the whole set.
Buoyed on by some of their own fanbase, the set was another successful counterpoint to the previous SCHEMEHING set. Definitely a band worth keeping an eye out for.
And there was even more before the headliners took their positions. Next up was Woodwife.
Like Ocean Views, Woodwife are a trio of musicians who are adept at playing indie rock music though having a much heavier sound, both from the guitars and drums and, more importantly, from the powerful singing of Freya Giles.
With Douglas James Knight on guitar and backing vocals and drummer Greg Mitchell, the band took the audience on a musical journey that encapsulated all the fine aspects of playing to a live audience, thankful for people to play too, encouraged to play the songs written to their full capabilities.
Like many acts we have seen on our #AtoZMusicalTour, the songs the band played live had that added edge when compared to those put down in the studio.
Three acts down so far and only positive dreams so far.
And so to the Girobabies. To Dreams Are Mental in particular. 12 songs that begin with ‘We Need an Intro’ and finish with ‘A Light At Glasgow Central’
Between these bookends there is a heady mix of social punk brought to life by the band.
What can’t be denied about the songs they’ve brought to our attention on this album is that it’s a perspective on a lifestyle that many will recognise as happening in the world around them each day. From how we’ve been overtaken by technology in ‘The Secret Information’ to the ‘Her Fancy Man’ and reflections on falling to crypto scams.
Listening to the album again, the songs are a rich mix of power pop, punk, ska and more and this eclecticism was brough to the fore on Saturday night as they augmented the core group with ‘special guests’ that brought another piece of musical glamour to proceedings.
The band can certainly be proud of the album. The more you listen to the individual tracks, the more you get drawn into the story they are telling and how collectively, the album is a critical look at what’s happening all around us. Some of life is ok. Some of it is bad, and, in keeping with the Girobabies, some of it is funny.
On Saturday night they showcased their own musicianship, they brought together an eclectic mix of support acts and special guests, everyone of whom brought something positive to the party.
Apart from an obscure licensing law that halted the gig temporarily before the clock struck 10.30, it was an evening that flowed perfectly and provided the ideal launch pad for the band to bring a raft of new songs to their future gigs.
Dreams Are Mental? Well maybe they are, but this was a Mental Glasgow Night and that’s never a bad thing.
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