English Teacher, Queen Margaret Union, Glasgow review - Mercury winners step up in size with style

The Leeds quartet's set was varied in genre but thrilling when punchy

Props designed like flowers were scattered across the QMU stage for English Teacher's performance. A fitting choice given the Leeds group are evidently in full bloom these days, with an upgraded venue in Glasgow due to demand and, of course, a Mercury Music Prize collected along the way for debut album “This Could Be Texas”. 

Rachel Chinouriri, Queen Margaret Union, Glasgow review - a formidable and genre-hopping talent

The singer lifted elements from throughout pop history during an exciting set

It appears Rachel Chinouriri has a good memory. “I remember you!” she yelled excitedly to one fan early on, highlighting that she currently sits in a nice position – popular enough to be playing busy shows in decently sized venues, but at a level where she can still see the eager faces looking back at her.

Album: Tomorrow X Together - The Star Chapter: Sanctuary

From heavenly pop to reggaeton heat, TXT's musical universe knows no bounds

South Korean quintet TXT's latest mini-album delivers six meticulously crafted tracks that showcase the group's evolving artistry through everything from dreamy pop to reggaeton to classic R&B.

With its stripped back arrangement – some ethereal guitar chords here, an unforgettably chirpy three-note descending synth riff there, plus vocal lines that flow and blend mellifluously – album opener “Heaven” delivers the mini-album's first and perhaps most memorable earworm.

Music Reissues Weekly: The Yardbirds - The Ultimate Live at the BBC

THE YARDBIRDS - THE ULTIMATE LIVE AT THE BBC New ways to see British band

New ways to see this most significant of British bands

“The last we had was a bit of a flop. I own up about it, it was quite bad.” Speaking to the BBC’s Brian Matthew on 4 April 1967, Yardbirds’ frontman Keith Relf is candid about the chart fate of his band’s last single, October 1966’s “Happenings Ten Years Time Ago.”

Music Reissues Weekly: Gerry and the Pacemakers - I Like It! Anthology 1963-1966

GERRY AND THE PACEMAKERS I Like It! Anthology 1963-1966

How the key Merseybeat hitmakers were left behind as pop moved on

The name is so familiar it inhibits analysis. Gerry and the Pacemakers – Gerry Marsden and his band, a group with a designation pronouncing they made the pace, were with the trends. For a while, the case can be made that this is how it was. After The Beatles smashed into the charts, Gerry and the Pacemakers occupied the rung below them as the UK’s second-most commercially successful new band.

Isabel LaRosa, Saint Luke's and the Winged Ox, Glasgow review - TikTok pop and a school disco atmosphere

The up-and-coming pop star was lively but one-dimensional

The bar staff at Saint Luke’s will rarely have had an easier night than this one. Such was the youthful nature of the crowd for Isabel LaRosa that there was little for them to do, beyond handing over occasional cans of Coke.

The atmosphere felt like a school disco, from constant sing-a-longs to whatever was blaring out over the PA (and a mass dance routine when Chappell Roan’s "Hot to Go" kicked in) to gaggles of arm-locked girls hurrying back and forth across the floor ahead of the main event.

Music Reissues Weekly: Rain - Tomorrow Never Comes: The NYC Sessions 1967-1968

RAIN: TOMORROW NEVER COMES: THE NYC SESSIONS 1967-1968 The final chapter in the story of Merseybeat pioneers The Undertakers

The final chapter in the story of Merseybeat pioneers The Undertakers

The Undertakers were central to the Merseybeat boom. The best of what they issued on single in 1963 and 1964 captured the raw, stomping sound adored by Liverpool’s audiences. But hits were elusive and they dropped off the musical map at the end of 1964. The Beatles never forget The Undertakers though. In 1968, former Undertaker Jackie Lomax was signed to their label Apple.

Public Service Broadcasting, Barrowland, Glasgow review - history given euphoric life

★★★★ PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING, GLASGOW History given euphoric life

From Ameila Earhart to the space race, the quartet were as creative as ever

The years may go by and the albums might change, but there are always a few constants with Public Service Broadcasting. There is the recorded message that precedes their arrival for one, a disembodied voice booming out to inform the crowd to put their phones away and not talk loudly.

Smile 2 review - worthy follow up to runaway hit

★★★ SMILE 2 True to its gleefully unsubtle predecessor but with a real sense of dread this time

True to its gleefully unsubtle predecessor but with a real sense of dread this time

No film tackles the knotty topic of inherited mental illness with as much gleeful abandon as Smile. Mental health has been a popular subtext in contemporary horror for the past decade, but Parker Finn's Smile felt refreshing in how unsubtle it was. The premise was a curse that drives you mad with violent hallucinations that eventually force you to kill yourself, passing the curse on to whoever witnesses your death.