I have known the bold Gary Salmon for a few years now, since his early Beltur days to his new incarnation in the newly established indie rock band Test The Waters, which is why I was pretty excited when they dropped their first ever single onto the online world. I knew anything Gary and co. was bringing to the table would be something worth listening to.
Unique, britpop-esque era vocals clash dramatically with classic rock guitar riffs and punchy bass-lines in this well written slice of pop-rock-noise, and I have to say, when those guitar riffs are paired alongside the dark-humour laced lyrics in Swollen Lip - it really makes for a cracking debut tune from this Glasgow five piece!
When people moan that there is nothing new in rock, tell them they just have to look at what bands like Test The Waters are bringing to the table, and if that doesn't shut them up, then they ain't worth arguing with in the first place.
If this is the tune that the guys are 'testing the water' with (sorry man, I had to do it...) then I can't wait to see what else they bring to the table. I'm told by one of our volunteers that they are even better live than recorded (as all excellent rock acts are) so I need to get my arse out to a gig soon and see them tear up a stage.