It was my first visit to Glasgow’s ‘The Hug and Pint’. Though small, the venue had a tangible buzz about it. Headlining tonight’s show was Sorority Noise – an American emo band – supported by The Pooches and Puppy.
The Pooches
The Pooches are a local band from Glasgow and were the opening band of the night. The style of the music they play sounds more pop based enveloped in a rock band aesthetic. Unfortunately their performance on the night wasn’t entirely the best. I was under the impression that the band weren’t entirely confident during their set. Being at the front of the stage, I noticed that the members couldn’t keep eye contact with the crowd for any length of time.
The guitarist kept looking at the floor, the ceiling, the wall… anything bar the crowd to be honest. It just gave off the impression that they weren’t confident in what they were playing. Maybe it was nerves, however the vocalist just sounded bored. There was no enthusiasm in what he was singing which really came across.
They played all the right notes, and the music isn’t entirely my sort of thing. However there was nothing that made me excited or think to myself “that was a really interesting song”. It was all a bit bog standard – the drummer, though, was pretty solid throughout. If they could really work on their songs and presence then great, however this set wasn’t it for me. (4/10)
Puppy
Next up were Puppy, an alternative rock band from London. Puppy were my main reason for attending tonight’s gig. They began with “My Tree” which is a fantastically dark song off their new EP, Vol. II, and immediately grabbed the crowd’s attention. Puppy’s presence was a stark contrast to the previous set.
After a stellar start they kicked straight into “Do It Again”, a brilliant song with a gripping riff that would satisfy any music fan. After engaging the audience with its Thin Lizzy / Ghost guitar lines, the song transforms into a soft and very dynamic verse, followed by a massive chorus straight from a Smashing Pumpkins’ track. This is heavily complimented due to the fact the vocalist sounds like a blend between Billy Corgan and Papa Emeritus.
The band continued their set and I could not help notice how well the members of the band supported each other, creating a vibrant, powerful sound. There wasn’t much interaction with the crowd but with such a short amount of stage time it made sense for the band to crack on and get on with their set. They closed with the single from their latest EP titled “Entombed”. Again it’s just riff central. What a band! (7/10)
Sorority Noise
Prior to the gig I only knew Sorority Noise by name. I had never listened to a note of their music and was quite interested to see what the band was about considering it was their headline UK tour I was attending.
Once they began to play I took to them immediately. The songs were fairly upbeat yet very dynamic. The majority of the songs had a charm about them which allowed you to listen to the verse/ chorus once throughout and by the second round you were able to join in. I particularly enjoyed the vocal harmonies within the songs, I feel that it complemented their already really accomplished compositions which gives a lot of personality and character to their music. It was more fun than anything else.
The main thing that I have taken away from their set is it’s allowed me to dip my toe into the “emo” genre and I feel off of the back of this I may explore the genre more. Do check them out. (7.5/10)
