After a month long absence from gigs, I was dying to experience some quality live music again. Luckily, I got my chance when Italian alternative rock band OVER journeyed to Glasgow to play the city’s finest drinking establishment, Bloc, as part of their first ever UK tour to promote their newly released debut album. Having listened to them before and being well aware of their talents, I was excited to see them and naturally went in with high expectations.

But first up to kick off the festivities was Stirling punk outfit Science Made Us Robots, who I had only discovered a week prior, and they delivered a fast and furious set, churning out tight tune after tight tune, including some familiar numbers from their album Rats & Swans. With a combination of rapid drumming, swift bass lines and quick riffs, it was very difficult to resist banging your head to every note. Safe to say, they did not disappoint.

Now it was time for OVER to take the stage, and they put on an absolutely stunning performance from start to finish. Linda took lead on vocals, and in addition to her obvious talents, she was also passionate and highly charismatic. The rest of the band backed her up, chock full of energy and giving it their all on stage as they bounced around to the rhythm, while maintaining their solid chemistry as a musical unit.

As expected, they performed material from their new record Is This Growing Up and all the tunes sounded terrific, with the highlights including Brand New Day, Like Ashes Underground and The Fight, the latter being a ridiculously catchy number. They got members of the crowd singing along to Runaway, and even attracted a most likely intoxicated couple who came up to bust their best moves.

Wrapping up with The Promise, the Italians made a hell of a good first impression in the city of Glasgow, and with a little luck, we’ll be seeing them again sooner than later.