Glasgow band heavyskint are quickly building a reputation on the city’s live circuit, and their second single suggests that the buzz surrounding them is more than just word of mouth.
Formed in 2024, the five-piece have yet to play a show without selling it out, a rare feat for a group only two releases into their career.
At a time when guitar music is once again finding its footing across the UK, heavyskint are positioning themselves at the heavier, more chaotic end of the indie-rock resurgence.
Their new single, When Are You Coming For Me Jesus?, wastes little time in making its intentions clear.
A wiry guitar riff opens the track before drums and bass crash in, frontman Jacob Hunter’s rough-edged vocals cutting through the distortion with urgency.
There’s a looseness to the sound, it’s definitely unpolished in places, but that rawness is deliberate rather than accidental.
A Darker Edge
That darkness runs deeper than the instrumentation. Speaking to Brig, lead singer Jacob Hunter explained that the title comes from “a place of desperation, crying out wondering why the most important people in your life aren’t there for you.”
“Having grown up around religion it made sense to contextualise that feeling through Jesus as you’re always taught they are your saviour,” he said. “It’s difficult to make sense of that though when everything around you is bleak.”
The song builds patiently, tension mounting as vocals and guitar lock together and push towards a breaking point. When the final chorus lands, the lyrics blur into distortion. Clarity is almost beside the point; it is the force of delivery that defines the moment.
The track swells and sways before finally erupting into a shouted climax, guitars crashing together as the band drives the song to an explosive finish.
Influence-wise, Jacob cites Wunderhorse and Fontaines D.C. “especially when they push into harsher territory,” while admitting there is “definitely some ‘In Utero’ era Nirvana in there too.”
Sold-out Shows and Rowdy Crowds
It is easy to see why that intensity translates to the stage. Glasgow’s music scene has long been defined by its live energy, and heavyskint tap directly into that tradition, favouring volume, movement and atmosphere over polish and structure.
“It’s definitely not something we expected when we came together less than a year ago,” he said of their run of sold-out shows. “You can’t beat the feeling of playing to a full room. Each gig just gets rowdier and rowdier. People seem to be really buying into what we’re doing.”
Despite this being just their second official release, there is a confidence to When Are You Coming For Me Jesus? that suggests a band already comfortable in their identity.
Rather than chasing a cleaner, radio-ready indie sound, heavyskint lean into distortion and urgency, embracing the rough edges that first drew crowds to their gigs.
The timing may also be on their side. With guitar-driven bands once again dominating festival line-ups and streaming charts, there is a renewed appetite for music that feels visceral rather than calculated, and heavyskint’s latest release sits firmly within that space.
And with more music already in the works, the momentum shows no sign of slowing. “We’re back in the studio over the next couple weeks so keep an eye out for new music soon,” Slater added.
The band are also set to play Houseguest festival in Glasgow in April and headline Sneaky Pete’s in Edinburgh in May, hinting at “plenty other stuff in the works for what will be a busy year.”
So if you’re a fan of Wunderhorse, Fontaines D.C., The Snuts, or any number of the seemingly never-ending wave of indie rock bands dominating playlists right now, heavyskint should be firmly on your radar.
Just two singles in, they sound like a band determined to make themselves impossible to ignore.
Check out heavyskint on Spotify here, and buy tickets to their upcoming shows here.
Featured Image Credit: heavyskint
2nd year journalism and sport student at the University of Stirling, with a particular interest in music and sports. Sport editor for Brig Newspaper.
