LIVE REVIEW: HotWax, The Pill, The Froobz, Nice n’ Sleazy’s, Glasgow, 04/04/2025

In March, Hastings-based HotWax released their much-anticipated debut album Hot Shock and we were excited to hear the new songs live. What better venue to showcase the new music to the Glasgow crowd than Nice n’ Sleazy’s on Sauchiehall Street with the basement venue at full capacity for tonight’s show. Tallulah Sim-Savage (vocals & guitar), Lola Sam (vocals & bass) and Alfie Sayers (drums) have been busy these past couple of years touring with the likes of Royal Blood, Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes as well as playing at some major festivals. A few days ago they were also added to the 2025 TRNSMT Festival line-up in Glasgow, with 2025 already set to be a big and busy year for them.

An earlier dash along to the venue from the pub for the stage times was worthwhile as Perth punk band The Froobz (yes they are named after the yoghurt!) had also been added to the line-up, the three-piece are right up the street of the HotWax sound, a big shout out to the band for allowing emerging talent to showcase their music to a bigger audience. Vocalist and guitarist Oonagh lets rip from the off, they had more than a few fans in tonight as they played through a half-hour set that was enjoyable throughout. Strangely enough all of tonight’s bands have a trio of musicians, it seems to be more common these days. Ur Mum’s Guide To Life and Big Boy were the memorable tracks for us and we are sure to be hearing much more from The Froobz. 8/10

Nice n’ Sleazy’s is one of our favourite intimate venues in Glasgow right now, there is nothing better than getting right up close to a band as they perform. We saw The Pill at the Y Not? Festival last year and had been looking forward to seeing them again at Glasgow’s one day festival The Tenement Trail in October but unfortunately they had to pull out. The Pill join a growing list of bands to come out of the Isle of Wight following in the footsteps of Wet Leg, Coach Party and Lauran Hibberd to name a few. They are Lily Hutchings (vocals & guitar), Lottie Massey (vocals & bass) and Rufus Reader (drums) with the latter being one of only two male musicians to be seen on the night, the other of course being Alfie from HotWax. The Pill offer a mix of punk and rock music with some very quirky lyrics making their gigs very fun, Lily and Lottie ooze confidence while drummer Rufus is going about his business with a straight face. Opener Scaffolding Man offers some tongue-in-cheek lyrics as the set opens with the lines “He saw me in the bath, through the kitchen/through the glass, three stories from the grass”, the crowd reaction is decent with plenty of movement all around. There were a couple of new tracks in the eight-track set and also an announcement that the band will release a debut EP in May. The last three songs of the set were the standouts for us in Money Mullet, Woman Driver and Bale of Hay, we would love to see The Pill on a headline tour. 9/10

With the basement now packed-out Tallulah, Loa and Alfie receive a nice welcome from the Glasgow crowd who are a mixture of younger and older music fans but crucially all converging together to appreciate a great night of music. As Sim-Savage has an issue with her guitar Lola tells the crowd ‘we have a problem’ but it’s not long until they fire into the set. First track She’s Got A Problem gets some movement from the crowd early on, this is one of the standout tracks from Hot Shock and should be on more than a few playlists. The ten-track album was played in full with only a few others included in the set such as Phone Machine from the Invite Me, Kindly EP and Treasure and Rip It Out from A Thousand Times EP. The standout tracks for us were Strange To Be Here, In Her Bedroom and One More Reason from the new record, the setlist has obviously changed a lot from last years performance at Stereo in Glasgow and the band have a greater stage presence with the cohesion between Tallulah and Lola also a standout from the night. The last track of the night was Rip It Out as the room exploded with dancing and singing all around ending a great night of music. 9/10

Written by: Alan Brown