Featuring members of Spinning Coin and The Mary Column, Hairband confirm my suspicions that talent runs wild in Glasgow. Recorded a few years ago prior to the COVID lockdown, shelved, released on cassette and streaming in 2023, and now finally getting a vinyl release this week, Under the Plow is the sort of lively indie that makes everything seem better with one play. A few more plays can only help, right?
The "On a day like today" refrain of opener "Unconscious Rivals" is playfully insouciant, the sound of a band coming together over a ramshackle set of riffs, while the spindly hooks of "Crimson Wave" suggest a collab between The Pastels and The Sugarcubes. "Paris", partly sung in French, is even better. Think The Raincoats and The Slits. Hairband have a delightfully light touch, and it's one which gives this material the vibe of a bunch of pals having a laugh, and accidentally creating a great record. At their very best, like on the lilting "How Far", there's a winsomeness here that is similar to that of Spinning Coin, another Rachel Taylor band.
Both Rachel Taylor and Simone Wilson of Hairband ended up on that superb album from Spinning Coin spin-off The Mary Column earlier this year. And there's a bit of a hint here of some of the charms of that record. "Surfacing" seems like it could have been a Spinning Coin / The Mary Column song, and it's got that combination of Aztec Camera-y guitar-lines and C86-y strumming that made the best songs from The Mary Column seem like instant classics. It's just great indie-pop of the sort that seems like it's barely held together, like the best mid-period Pavement once sounded. It's rough and light at the same time, and still wildly tuneful. Nothing here is overdone, and Hairband have such a natural touch that it's hard not to love this music. Fans of stuff like Look Blue Go Purple and Unrest will find this right up their alley.
Under the Plow by Hairband will be out on Friday via Errol's Hot Wax. Details below, and if you want the deluxe version with the BBC sessions CD and all that, go here.
[Photo: Errol's Hot Wax / Hairband]