Like the intro on the Bandcamp site says, Sumshapes are Ali Begbie, Jer Reid and Richie Dempsey.
Those with an eye attuned to the unsung heroes of the Scottish underground scene will realise that they used to play together in Dawson a long time ago.
The three-piece specialise in angular, angry and free-wheelin noise-rock which to BM’s ears has traces of many alt-rock combos from their declared influences like The Minutemen to Shellac and even Scotland’s ain Stoor and El Hombre Trajeado. The nine tracks all have their own wee guitar/bass/drums tropes, quite catchy in places but discordant in others. BM’s particular faves are opener ‘Itchy Eye’ with some very pissed-off sounding vocals, the nee-ha hoedown of track 4 ‘First XI’ and the stomping chords and spoken word rant of ‘Literally In The Lap Of The Gods’.
These guys sound like they just enjoy wrenching the noise from the instruments, even after all those years, and the vocals are a good chance to rail at the word or add some random observations – they will enrich your day, or your week. There has been some touring action including a Glasgow gig back in June, and hopefully some more soon…