Some 40 years after the Edinburgh band's formation, Slumberland has finally released a compendium of its output, a release that rightfully joins the ranks of the era's alternative pop canon. Recorded at the time as the band's swan song before splitting up, it's perhaps no surprise that "Galashiels" has ended up on this particular label, given that the jangle of "I've Got A Friend" often drifts into more post-punk territory and dreamy reverb, as on the woozy litany of "Summer Of Love".
As a C86 compilation, "Galashiels" doesn't disappoint expectations, with the major-key nostalgia of "Children's TV" and the clattering, loose-limbed "The First Day Of Spring" — which could have come off a Bats record — taking center stage.
Indeed, one often gets the impression that the band is merely the (missed) product of a series of coincidences that never quite happened, of people never met, perhaps of gigs that went wrong. Because otherwise this is a reasonably solid body of work, one that may not stand out for originality but carries enough emotional weight to strike a chord with fans of the genre (the symbolic, transfigured past of Galaxie 500 on "Holiday House" and the innocent post-punk convulsions of "Nothing To Live For").
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26/10/2026
This article is an English translation of the original Italian text by Lorenzo Righetto, published on OndaRock.it. It was translated with the help of artificial intelligence, under the editorial responsibility of OndaRock's editor-in-chief, Claudio Fabretti.
Tracklist
- 1. I've Got a Friend
- 2. Holiday House
- 3. Children's TV
- 4. The First Day of Spring
- 5. The Summer of Love
- 6. I'm Leaving on the 7:52
- 7. Darkness Before Dawn
- 8. The Frightened Girl
- 9. Nothing to Live For
LEON BRIDGES
Happiness Anytime
The clubbing turn that saves him from the dead end of routine
PANDA BEAR - SONIC BOOM
A ? Of When
The space-time portal of an album where pop psychedelia bridges past and future
RKOMI
In Milan
Starting over, after premature success
WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM
Estuary
A great comeback for the standard-bearers of cascadian black metal
PET SHOP BOYS
A Man From The Future
The British synth-pop duo crafts a sonic biography of Alan Turing
ERYKAH BADU, THE ALCHEMIST
Before The World Blows
After 16 years, the queen of neo-soul returns, with an album in which she reflects on the things that matter before the end of the world
SHEARLING
Don’t Look At Me The Way A Dog Might Look At Your Leg
From a noise monolith to a folk song format on the edge of chaos
THE ALBUM LEAF
A Body Of Voices
Pop attitude and the centrality of the voice define the ninth album of LaValle's project
Edoardo M. Cappuccio
Gabriele Brombin
Anna Quaranta