By Megan Hughes
Tom McGuire and The Brassholes are Glasgows answer to a James Brown, Bill Withers and Stevie Wonder super group. The guys are bringing good vibes to your ears – just what the doctor ordered.
The Glasgow group has a new single, Super Solid Soul Vehicle, out now. This song is guaranteed to help lift your lockdown blues and have you dancing before it finishes. Some songs are meant to be enjoyed either live or at home whilst giving your best Tracy Turnblad impersonation – this is one of those songs.
Opening with a James Brown-esque ‘eugh’ and some pretty sexy calls of brass the song straight away has any listener moving. Listeners are truly hooked when the band builds to what you’d expect to be a monumental crescendo but instead drops everything to start a smooth question and answer chorus between front man Tom and the rest of the gang- this seems to be their calling card on this track.
Super Solid Soul Vehicle sounds like Bill Withers, Stevie Wonder and James Brown all came together to form a super group. Three massive stars with big sounds; all heroes to funk and jazz; and all would be proud to hear the sound Tom McGuire and the Brassholes have created. At no point does the record sound like pure noise which is testament to the ability of the artists in the group. Everyone works hand in hand to build, breakdown, harmonise, accentuate – everything. This type of sound could not be pulled off by mediocre artists which is no insult to them; it is simply too complex a task. When you have so many moving pieces it becomes difficult to make sure they are all hitting the right note; are in time; are heard but aren’t drowning anyone else out and so forth. The Brassholes make it seem easy.
Mcguire has a voice which is hard to describe – gravelly but, also, smooth. A juxtaposition unto itself. He knows when to push his vocals either way: smoothing things down coming into the chorus and blending with the brass accompaniment whilst roughing things up when commanding the band to answer back his call of ‘mojo’.
Half way through the track everything breaks down to gradually be built back up layer by layer. The song is rebuilt and everyone involved showcases their impeccable and raw talent as individual musicians.
Although, the band has a front man you never think he is the only star – listening to Super Solid Soul Vehicles makes it clear that every single person involved is a brilliant musician in their own right. From the sounds of things though these guys already know that with all seeming very confident in being heard independently when it comes to their turn. Their confidence as individuals makes all the more sense when you find out that everyone met through busking and jam sessions.
Their origin story is no surprise given the tracks full sound and live band feel, with: question and answer; break downs; crescendos and litterings of individual musical flare dotted throughout. The song begs to be heard live as just one listen through a set headphones doesn’t quite fullfill the twelve man groups true potential; the full potential isn’t even reached when blaring through top of the range speakers with the walls shaking. If you are going to do anything post pandemic it needs to be going to see Tom McGuire and the Brassholes live because this already amazing track will sound even better live.
Super Solid Soul Vehicle is out now and hopefully can be experienced live in the not so distant future.
You can keep up with Tom McGuire and the Brassholes for future releases and gig dates at the below:
Twitter – @brassholes
Instagram- @tomandthebrassholes
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/tomandthebrassholes/
Official Website – https://www.tomandthebrassholes.com/
The Music Files 