Rejoice! For arch Falkirk indie satirists Arab Strap are back, and on fighting form. The new single, ‘Glamour Magick’, is excellent, taking a pop at quick -fix solutions for the truly vain and vacuous. It’s a nice antidote to the uptake in cosmetic surgery, weight loss jags and skin remedies across the world. Trust AidanContinue reading “Arab Strap Are Fighting…The Seven Signs of Ageing”
Category Archives: Society
It’s All A Bit Rainbow Rhythms
‘Peep Show’ created by Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain, was always brilliant for capturing the zeitgeist. Now, looking back, it’s an accurate time capsule, and we can remember exactly where we were when Mark and Jez were making total dicks of themselves with their latest unsuitable crush, or ridiculous scheme. One episode, though, remains goldContinue reading “It’s All A Bit Rainbow Rhythms”
Social Media Is The Latest Scapegoat
Sir Keir Starmer has followed Australia and today implemented a blanket ban on social media for anyone under the age of sixteen. A group of parents who had lost their children spearheaded the campaign. Whilst I obviously feel for the families who lost their children, social media is not the issue- there are many problemsContinue reading “Social Media Is The Latest Scapegoat”
TV Review: Tip Toe
“Leo, you’re queer in 2026. You’re a political act”. So says Melba, portrayed by Paul Rhys with fire and pathos in Russell T Davies’ new drama, set around the LGBTQ+ bars in Manchester’s famous Canal Street. He’s addressing friend Leo (Alan Cumming) a proprietor of Spit and Polish club, who can’t understand why he’s justContinue reading “TV Review: Tip Toe”
Theatre Review: Educating Rita, Dundee Rep Theatre
Dundee Rep Theatre, May 28th, 2026. In a week that saw a bitter row erupt within the BBC regarding men taking on women’s stories (four hundred female writers signed an open letter against Jeff Pope doing a dramatisation of Sarah Everard’s murder) questions still remain about the authorship of female experience. But there’s no suchContinue reading “Theatre Review: Educating Rita, Dundee Rep Theatre”
Big Bogan Energy!
There’s something really heartening about the term bogan being used as a positive, finally. For too long, Australian and Kiwi working-class people, as with “chavs” in England and “neds” in Scotland, have been characterised as uncouth, stupid and a menace to society at large. Stereotypes persisted, of drinking, vandalism, prison tattoos and mullets, and notContinue reading “Big Bogan Energy!”
Has Pop (Culture) Eaten Itself?
Have we finally reached saturation point with internet culture? I ask as I stumbled upon The Kiffness (pictured above) the other day, aka. the musician David Scott on YouTube who creates songs based around “singing cat” videos, playing an actual gig, with a proper audience, all of whom were singing along to him, and theContinue reading “Has Pop (Culture) Eaten Itself?”
John Waters at The No Kings Protest
As if I couldn’t love The Pope of Trash, John Waters, enough, he turned up at the No Kings Protest in Provincetown, on March 28th with this witty sign: “Trump ruined bad taste” You’ve gotta love him. I do. Long may he subvert the mainstream.
The Body Keeps The Score
Before we left, before the final barbs, before the hurt, before the anger, before the indifference, I knew. I knew that the kindness was performative, that you’re an imposter. I knew that you study others, because you are dead inside. Before goodbye, the smiles, winks, studied lines, I knew it was only a matter ofContinue reading “The Body Keeps The Score”
The Great Performance Debate
Commedia Dell’arte Dr Gareth K Vile, great friend of mine and brilliant thinker, recently ruminated on the great Scottish theatre debate, because some critics hadn’t been invited to the musical version of ‘One Day’ : is it dying? I can’t speak to a broader academic discourse, as I’m a university dropout, and not a doctorContinue reading “The Great Performance Debate”
Hit The North 