Spinning Coin – Permo

Given all the "legendary" names attached to Spinning Coin's debut album, Permo – a reference to being on a permanent drug trip as made famous by Glasgow comic Limmy – one might be surprised that they're not superstars already. In their three years as a band, though their story as Glasgow art-school musicians goes much further back, they have toured with Teenage Fanclub, signed to The Pastels' Domino imprint Geographic Music and recorded with Edwyn Collins, with upcoming shows with Girl Ray and Dinosaur Jr. to come.

There's a playfulness between songwriters Sean Armstrong and Jack Mellin that keep things fresh and exciting even when the band are at their most reminiscent of 90s jangly indie-rock. New single Sleepless for instance has a Pavement-esque slacker quality to it, showing their ambitions lay far beyond just Glasgow, while Sides, which precedes it, is a post-punk song of Wedding Present distraction. However, for every stirring pop song, there are also the more intentionally awkward songs like Metronome River, or the mysterious Starry Eyes which shows an inventiveness that goes beyond pure pop. 

On top of working with those aforementioned highly notable names, Spinning Coin manage, across the 14 songs of their first full length, to sound like a cross between all of them. The quintet may wear their influences on their sleeve, and pretty broadly at times, but there is such a fascinating range of them for such a young band that Permo can only be seen as a success, both as a record but also within a long line of great Glasgow bands. Long may it continue – Spinning Coin are clearly destined for far bigger stages.

Listen to: Raining on Hope Street, Sides, Sleepless