So Young Magazine - Issue Sixty-Four So Young Magazine

The October issue arrives as festivals are comfortably in the distance and autumn tours are in full flow. The champions of the stages in the fields are now filling dark rooms and dropping the music they teased during warmer times. Madra Salach, the Dublin six-piece who deliver folk songs with a fierce punk spirit, are one of those champions and they’re on the cover. Speaking to us ahead of the announcement of their debut album ‘Gorta’, we discuss the roots of darkness at the core of irishness, the genocide in Palestine, and the responsibility to retain politics in folk music.  

Ten months into 2026 and we can already reflect upon a great depth of brilliant records, and between this issue and the last we’ve enjoyed albums from three former cover bands- Fat Dog, Westside Cowboy and Gilla Band. Manchester based Westside Cowboy have taken the release of their debut album ‘It Goes On’ very seriously and they chat to us inside about the pressure, the processes taken to learn more about themselves and the imperfect necessity of social media. In an actively less serious approach, Fat Dog have reduced the ‘oonts oonts’ and chased the humour in music. Ahead of the release of new album ‘Cancel Me (I’m Tired)’, frontman Joe Love takes our call. Gilla Band are, quietly, one of the most influential groups of the last decade. Not least in Ireland. A band who take their time, and put health to the front of how they operate, Gilla Band have released their fourth album ‘Pugnello’ on Rough Trade Records. Via Zoom, our conversation spans grief, drum machines and crisps.

Developing within Westside Cowboy’s No Band Is An Island community, Manchester’s Wyatt and Exeter’s Pushbike are two new bands to be excited for. Wyatt, who have recently shared their debut single, raise their hands high as next in the alt-country line, whereas Pushbike keep it snappy with blurs of emo and melodic 90s indie. We chat to both bands inside. Staying in the UK, via Paris, London’s Spanish Horses have announced their debut EP ‘Small Notions’. Fresh from dates with Bleech 9:3 and little grandad, we met up at a cafe to discuss their growth of thicker skin, the influence of Paris and how they wrote the debut single ‘Hey Man (Hey Man!)’.