PREVIEW: Glaswegians Local Authority ooze punk spirit, from their lo-fi sound to their Instagram manifesto of: ‘We will gig any time. Any day’, but at the same time we wouldn’t dare call their ‘Big Time Dreamer’ EP a punk record. The West Scottish three piece hold the DIY ethos close to their hearts but the melodies busting out of their latest release are more mod-rock or merseybeat inspired than indebted to the seventies leather-clad army of spitsters.
Title song ‘Big Time Dreamer’ is a roaring, full throated anthem, replete with harmonica and the humbly aspiring chorus “I’m a small town dealer, a big time dreamer”. ‘Figure It Out’ is the nastiest track of the collection, two minutes of downcast anger, with the final tracks ‘In Vision’ and ‘Broken & Blind’ nabbing the finest parts of The Kinks and The Beatles, smearing them with bits of ska and blues. If Babyshambles ever tried to write a La’s record, we reckon it could sound something like this.
If you want to catch Local Authority live, fresh from supporting The Libertines at Glasgow’s Oran Mar, you can at the following dates:
Saturday 1st June – EP Launch show – HMV, Ayr
Saturday 8th June – Hazy Sundays EP Launch – Nice’n’Sleazys, Glasgow
Sunday 30th June – The Recovery Collective Presents – Alcohol-Free Festival
Friday 9th + Saturday 10th August – Doon The Watter Revival Festival
The ‘Big Time Dreamer EP’ was recorded at Glasgow’s Fuzzface Studio. It isn’t out yet, so you’ll need to check back on Friday 31st May to have a listen for yourself and we’ll update the site with a link when it’s released. For the time being you can listen to their 2023 ‘The Time Is Now’ single on the Spotify link below: