Rough mix of new song "Bonfire". Off a forthcoming split EP with Callum Baird.

GUMS! - Bonfire (rough)

‘Midland Street’ is a new collaborative single between Glaswegian DIY Pop band GUMS! and David “Bratchy” Bratchpiece co-author of ‘Brickwork: A Biography of the Arches’. The single is available now as a pay-what-you-like download only from gums.bandcamp.com with all proceeds donated in aid of Help Musicians.

Function-suite romantics GUMS! are the project of veteran Glasgow songwriter Martin J. Smith. Over his two decades in music, Smith has built a reputation on mining the mundane and the miserable for unexpected gems of wistful pop. ‘Midland Street’ is tribute to The Arches, “Nightclub, theatre, creative hub, party place, and one of the most important venues in Scotland”, which closed its shutters in 2014.


Smith explains “My 20s revolved around the Arches, and Bratchy was a huge part of that. We’ve collaborated on various artistic projects over 20 years, but never been in the studio together. It made sense to get him involved on the Arches tune, because he’s basically the foremost historian on the place now, and I wanted to see if he could actually play anything on the guitar apart from the Terminator theme.”

“The Arches was an institution, and we’ve lost a lot more great venues in recent years. So we’re raising a bit of money for Help Musicians to do a small bit for those affected.”

GUMS! Featuring Bratchy - Midland Street

Flats (2012-2016)

Grangemouth at the Dawn

A sneak previous of something of our debut studio album, due early 2019.

GUMS! - The Frame Story (one) - Rough Mix

The first song to be taken off our new album TEMPS, due out January 2020!

GUMS! - Not One Day More

"Frame Story (1)" is the opening track on our debut album "TEMPS".

TEMPS is launched at the Old Hairdresser, Glasgow on 25/01/2020 with support from Callum Baird and The Hector Collectors.

Temps

Frame Story (1)

TEMPS is the debut album from Glaswegian DIY Pop band GUMS!. It is released digitally on 25/01/2020 at gums.bandcamp.com and through all the usual digital channels.

Function-suite romantics GUMS! are the project of veteran Glasgow songwriter Martin J. Smith. Over his two decades in music, Smith has built a reputation on mining the mundane and the miserable for unexpected gems of wistful pop. On TEMPS, Smith’s trademark literary flair and narrative focus are given room to be breathe over 12 tracks of essential indie.
 
Smith explains “With TEMPS I wanted to tell a story over a period of time. I focussed on the story of a relationship over the course of 15 years, the songwriting style and arrangement shift over the course of the album to highlight the passage of time and a growing sense of alienation.”

Early tracks such as You Held Me and Not One Day More use frantic indie punk, janglepop and doo-wop to tell giddy tales of teenage romance, while later tracks such as We Used To Run Around and Why Does This Feel So New? embrace a sparser and more electronic palette that l ends itself to darker explorations of isolation, ageing and regret.

The GUMS! sound is built around the interplay between the three vocalists, Nora Noonan’s casual, poppy tones providing the perfect counter-point to Smith’s “Scottish Leonard Cohen” delivery, with the intricate guitar work and soaring vocal melodies of Jack Taylor elevating the choruses to Teenage Fanclub-esque proportions.

Although the styles on display are wide-ranging, the sense of lyrical urgency and loss at core of the song-writing ensures that the tracks always complement each other, creating a series of inter-linked vignettes chronicling everyday life and love in Central Scotland. Raw and poignant in equal measure and sonically equally influenced by Eels, Kirsty MacColl and Pulp.

GUMS! - We Used To Run Around

TEMPS is the debut album from Glaswegian DIY Pop band GUMS!. It is released digitally on 25/01/2020 at gums.bandcamp.com and through all the usual digital channels.

Function-suite romantics GUMS! are the project of veteran Glasgow songwriter Martin J. Smith. Over his two decades in music, Smith has built a reputation on mining the mundane and the miserable for unexpected gems of wistful pop. On TEMPS, Smith’s trademark literary flair and narrative focus are given room to be breathe over 12 tracks of essential indie.

GUMS! - You Are Everything (Radio Edit)

Never heard before by anyone and thought lost for 20 years. Very poor.

Tracklist:

Help the State
Chris Moyles
Someday
Flying Goat Man
Life (Die) Why?
Chix n' Comix
Realm O' Majick
Willy Linn

The Plimptons - 1999 Demo Tape

Formerly of the Plimptons and Little Love and the Friendly Vibes. Currently in GUMS!

MartinGUMS

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