Mere days after I was revelling in the buzz of Broadcast, Gallus brought a nugget of post-punk gold from Glasgow to Leeds. And as they were playing one of my favourite local venues in the West Yorkshire city — the cloakroom-sized Oporto — it was a no-brainer to grab a ticket.
The band was as impressively slick — after all, you’d expect that from a five-piece outfit that’s recently signed with Marshall Records, sold out King Tut’s and freshly conquered the stage at TRNSMT. Quaintly enough, too, their name’s one of those new-to-me Scottish terms I’m trying to weave into my vocabulary. And indeed, true to their title, they were bold.

Throughout their full set, there was angst — stacks of the stuff. Gallus have a brash blueprint and don’t operate quietly. From the roaring vocals and cheeky dance moves of Barry Dolan to the pretty experimental strumming techniques from both guitarists, there wasn’t a dull second. It was all suitably riotous and raucous, for which Oporto is used to applauding its on-stage frequenters, but it meant that the clean, sharp production on the studio versions of Gallus’ ’Perfect Ending’ and ‘Actual Factual’ were scuzzy and particularly smoking-hot when blared through massive amps. Of course, the major tunes, ‘Looking Like a Mess’ and ‘Marmalade’, were a joy to hear live as well.

They wheeled out their seriously strong catalogue of songs, then thankfully rounded off the show in ground-shaking style with my top track of choice, ‘What Do I Know’. What an absolute behemoth.
So, all in all, I’d get ready to hear much more from Gallus, if I were you…
