THEY are the first band to sell out three nights at the Barrowland before the release of their debut album and now, Scots band The Snuts have announced four new shows at another iconic city venue.

The group will play a series of unplugged, live acoustic gigs at the West End’s Oran Mor on September 1 and 2 at 5pm and 7pm following the release of their debut album W.L last Friday. 

Glasgow Times: Oran Mor

The boys are currently battling it out with global superstar Demi Lovato to reach number one. If successful, they will be the first Scottish band since The View in 2007 to reach the top of the charts with their first record. As of Tuesday, just 1100 sales separated the two acts according to the Official Charts Company.

Named W.L., the band describes the album as their lifetime work. Lead singer Jack Cochrane said: “It’s a collection of milestones and melodies that time stamp a dream we had becoming a reality. It’s a record about being true, loving and resilient.”

Included in the record is a nod to Glasgow with one song being named after the city. 

The group recorded the album to fit around their day jobs in construction, assuring fans that blood, sweat and tears went into the making of it.

The record is named after the young team from Whitburn, where the band originally hails from.

As well as Jack, the group is also comprised of  guitarist Joe McGilveray, bassist Callum Wilson and  drummer Jordan McKay. 

Glasgow Times:

Much of the record is inspired by Scotland’s youth culture in the mid-2000s. 
Jack added: “Right back to basics, the name of our record is W.L. which is the name of the young team where we’re from.

"Just going back to grassroots for us, we lived that life even though we were out in the forest with our guitars when everybody was drinking cider and stuff like that.

“It was the kind of culture we grew up in even though music was the way we wanted to go. There was nothing that separated us, there wasn’t a musical clique or anything like that. We just happened to be the only ones in the town that played music, so we were the entertainment.

“Some of the themes that you’ll find in our music and certainly throughout our record is talking about some of those issues that you wouldn’t normally hear like the effects of the drug culture in Scotland and how it’s ravaged people around about us and just more of that unwritten stuff you don’t hear about a lot has found it’s way into our songs.”

Despite their West Lothian roots, the band have a soft spot for Scotland’s largest city and its most famous ballroom where they are set to play in September. 

Glasgow Times: The Barrowland with its famous neon sign. The famous venue is critical to the success of the Barras as a hub for music and the arts

Jack added: “Anybody we’ve spoken to all over the world, you talk to them about their favourite venue and it always comes back to the Barrowland. I think that says it all in itself.

“We decided as friends that we wanted to play the Barrowland when we put out our debut record and not until then.

“For us, it was somewhere we snuck in underage and we were going there all the time, just as friends. It has an atmosphere like no other, especially for guitar music. It was a place you could go and just be truly inspired by what’s happening in front of you. For us, it’s got kind of a holy aspect.

“There’s something really special about the Barrowland. There’s not a lot of venues that hold that prestige.”

The boys are looking forward to getting back out on tour after a year of being at a standstill. Jack said: “With the pandemic, we were probably the first to stop and we’ll probably be the first to go back.

“Some of the most talented people I know are out delivering takeaways and delivering for Amazon. These are guys that have been working their whole lives being able to put their skills to use.”

A band very much routed in the community with their feet firmly on the ground, the lads raised more than £3000 for their crew who have been out of work since last year. 

As well as that, they used their video budget from record label Parlephone for the debut single Somebody Loves You to donate cash to the Scottish Refugee Council. Jack said: “With the type of song it was for us, the message we wanted to get across with the song was that kind of compassion, love and care in the community. 

“For us, it perfectly suited the work the Scottish Refugee Council do in Glasgow. It came together really well and it’s done a lot for the charity.

“We’ve made so many videos before. I think sometimes you get caught up in striving for success and making videos for pure vanity. It was nice for us to do something positive and something that was close to our hearts.

“For us, it was just trying to give a voice to a charity you probably wouldn’t consider. One of the big things with refugees coming to Scotland you don’t get to hear their stories. There’s a certain amount of ignorance surrounding that cause in general.”

Jack has also been writing daily letters to Nicola Sturgeon about the impact the pandemic has had on the music industry. He added: “We’ve come to a complete standstill. The motivation behind the letters is just to try and get a discussion when the time is right about how we can actually start rebuilding. It’s purely to open up a discussion and nothing else.”

The group are remaining positive that gigs will go ahead in September.  “We’re staying positive. Nothing is very predictable about this pandemic and what direction it’s going in. We feel positive about it. It’s a real reassurance to us just being able to see how much live music means to people and how much they’re missing it. That kind of reassurance  is something that keeps us positive and we’re ready to go back out there as soon as we can.

“It’s a huge part of people’s lives and it’s a huge part of the community as well. People being able to leave their worries at home and just embrace it and we feel really lucky that we can do that for people so we’re just looking forward to being able to do that again.”