Photo Credit: Steve Gullick
Alternative rockers The Wytches made the long trip to Glasgow to showcase some tracks from their recent album release Talking Machine, an impressive addition to their album collection that now stands at five with the first Annabel Dream Reader being released way back in 2014. We couldn’t have asked for a more intimate venue that Nice n Sleazy’s on Sauchiehall Street for the show, with no barrier between the band and crowd it allows the crowd to watch on in a close-knit way.
We have North-East of England singer-songwriter Melanie Baker as the support tonight who provides an entertaining half-hour of new songs from the upcoming album. We really enjoyed Real Life and Why Would I Wanna Be Like You as a few brave souls danced away down the front. There is even a song written about the Slugs that reside in her flat in Newcastle, Melanie has only one EP release to date (Burnout Baby) but we are looking forward to listening to any future releases. 7/10
We caught The Wytches at the Edinburgh Psych Fest in 2024 where they played a headline set to a fairly large crowd with a mix of alternative rock and psychedelia. The four piece are Kristian Bell (vocals & guitar), Mark Breed (guitar & keyboard), Daniel Rumsey (bass) and Bhavin Thaker (drums), the latter only joined the band in 2024 while the three others are original members. The extensive UK and European tour continues throughout November as the band showcase their music to a wider audience. New album title track Talking Machine opens the seventeen-track set that has everything from psychedelia, surf rock and garage rock taking us on a trip through the band’s five album catalogue. However we mostly get to hear tracks from Talking Machine (four songs) and five from the 2014 Annabel Dream Reader album.
Strangely missing from the set tonight are what are the three most streamed tracks from The Wytches – Crying Clown, Digsaw and Summer Again – there may be a reason for that though or maybe they wanted to focus on the songs from the latest release more. It didn’t bother the fans down the front much as the mosh pits opened for the excellent Black Ice and Coffin Nails and Sleazy’s turned into a sweatbox. These smaller venues really are the crème de la crème of the music industry allowing the up and coming bands to express themselves so close to the crowd. For us it’s a quiet one tonight, hanging back a little with head nodding being the order of the night, vocalist Kristian Bell keeps the crowd onside with his unique style while guitarist & keyboard player Mark Breed switches so easily between both instruments while also providing some fine psychedelic moments that sets them apart from your average indie rock band. The set ends with Meat Chucks and White Cliffs from the Three Mile Ditch album ending a very boisterous night of music that had a wide range of styles to suit everyone’s tastes. 8/10
Written by: Alan Brown
