There’s been an unholy lot of good post-punk coming out of the UK the last few years. It’s kind of happening everywhere, but the UK have always had a home team advantage when it comes to this kind of thing, so we’re not jealous. Just excited.
Okay, maybe a little jealous. There’s some good post-punk coming out of the US these days, but it’s not coming down like it is across the pond, and that’s just the way it is. We accept it. That being said, it can get a little difficult to sort through when trying to find out who’s really good, and not just talked about when other than touring, the first way we hear about them is press, which is… treacherous.
You know, unless you’re getting it from us ;)
Glasgow’s Gallus have been making a name for themselves in the alt-rock / post-punk scene with combustible single drops since 2019, but last week, they finally dropped their first LP, We Don’t Like Who We’ve Become, and we hope they’re prepared to accept some love.
Check out the sure fire intro “Moderation” below.
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There’s something about Gallus’ approach to angular, fizzy riffs that’s as novel as it is familiar. It seems there’s always a healthy amount of noisy, nearly-destructive guitar abuse in the best of the post-punk pantheon, and to that degree, Eamon Ewin and Gianluca Bernacchi have you more than covered. The entire record is peppered with memorable call and response moments from the pair of them, and they’re intelligently tied together with Barry Dolan’s memorable vocals and lyrics. No one is slouching here when it comes to their performances – but it’s the songwriting that’s going to keep you around.
It’s been really rewarding to watch another wave of UK post-whatever lads blow up the last couple of years, yielding an increasingly diverse scene as different subtexts and ideologies are exchanged. That hasn’t always translated to excellent songwriting, but for the most part it’s been worth it to just hear people writing more personal, authentic songs, as deranged or dated they might choose to sound.
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Take for instance, the drastic stylistic shifts of progressive post-punk titans black midi, or the psychotic quasi-funk of shame. Or maybe you’re more into the moody mania that is Idles, the stream of consciousness of spilled forth by Sleaford Mods. No? How about the caffeinated indie gaze of <>Fontaines DC, Pleasure Heads, or Declan Welsh and The Decadent West?
For us, there’s no wrong answer. Yeah, we are probably lumping a lot together here, but the point is the above list barely scratches the surface of the torrential downpour of recently lauded alternative post-punk bands from the UK. But calling Gallus post-punk is like calling Smashing Pumpkins grunge, it’s accurate, but doesn’t really paint a complete picture.
God, we need to take a hiatus from grunge, we know. We are working on it.
Anyway. Taking the noise and blustering nature of post-punk but staying focused on their indie and punk roots, they band churns out a record with more than enough substance to keep us engaged, let alone entertained.
Check out more from the band here, and try not to get lost in the sea of recommendations that follow. Or do, it’s good stuff, you’ll most likely run into a handful of the band’s we mentioned above as well. Maybe once we’re done obsessing with grunge, we can take look at post-punk? We need to stop making plans, anyway, coming up we’ve got TAKH, Hey! Tonal, Space Corolla, and more. So much more. Buy us a coffee here in hopes we survive – otherwise, have a good weekend!