As they gear up for their first Dundee gig since playing the now-closed Hunter S Thompson four years ago, Gallus guitarist Eamon Ewins is sheepish about the Glasgow outfit’s long time away from the City of Discovery.
“I really enjoyed it and it’s a shame we don’t play Dundee more. It’s got a good musical history with The Associates, The View and stuff like that. I feel bad we haven’t been back sooner, but I am excited to return.”
But the punk rockers are excited to be sharing a bill with The View frontman Kyle Falconer later this year, as they’ve bagged a prestigious slot on a Scottish-themed post-match party in Munich for the Euros which coincides with Scotland’s opening match against the tournament hosts.
“We’re all football fans, so we’re looking forward to going over,” smiles Broomhill lad Eamon, who has been part of Gallus since the day the band began in the Partick pub of the same name seven years ago.
New Gallus line-up making tracks more ‘colourful’
It started off with Eamon and Clydebank schoolmate Barry, who handily trained as an actor to give him extra confidence. The guitar player’s Edinburgh-born cousin Paul came in on drums.
In 2022, they were joined by second guitarist Gianluca Bernacchi and a year later by bass player Matthew McGoldrick, both coming from Paisley’s art pop mavericks The Vegan Leather.
When they arrived, the album had already been written, so the pair only contributed their respective parts.
Now, though, Gianluca in particular can add novelties such as digital rhythms on new single Wash Your Wounds, he explains.
“Everything’s a lot more colourful and aggressive now,” boasts the musician that also plays in soulful pop group Fauves.
“I come from a more electronic background, but I had to get used to my place in the band and all that. There’s been a bit of time since then and the boys are ready to move onto new sounds and effects.”
Gianluca and Eamon agree the band maintain the melodic sensibility of earlier recordings, inspired by hard-edged Swedish outfits The Hives and Viagra Boys, plus original punks such as The Ramones.
Eamon adds: “Although Gallus has been around for a few years now, this incarnation has only been together a matter of months, which is why you see such a sharp turn from the album. We’re excited to be writing more detailed music.”
Album is ‘a wee bit too maudlin’
Indeed, although infamous for their explosive live shows, Glaswegian rockers Gallus also write thoughtful lyrics with a deep sense of injustice and empathy.
Take Wash Your Wounds. It’s full of the five-piece’s typical heavy riffs and frontman Barry Dolan’s chanting vocals.
Yet guitarist and co-writer Eamon Ewins was inspired by hearing an advert in a supermarket for a mental health app.
“This was for online therapy and people were talking about struggling with their bills or putting food on the table,” Eamon says.
“I just thought, none of those things are mental health problems. It’s an economic and political crisis making your life harder, so it kind of annoyed me.
“You’re conditioning people to get used to things being worse and worse.”
With its infectious drum-machine groove, Wash Your Wounds already stood out from the rabble-rousing anthems found on last year’s debut album We Don’t Like The People We’ve Become.
And while this newly released tune appears to follow in the wake of previous tracks that suggest the debilitating nature of modern life, among them Penicillin and Sickness and Health, Eamon reckons Wash Your Wounds shows a more positive outlook.
“I love the album, but maybe it’s a wee bit too maudlin,” he says. “There’s a lot of complaining about the state of the world.
“’Oh, poor me’ is the wrong attitude to have, it’s not going to fix anything. I wanted to approach things in a different way.”
Gallus play Beat Generator Dundee with Colourway and Translation, February 17.
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