From the website of the Electric Honey record label:-
Describing themselves as a “past post-modern bug-eyed beatnik group”, the Glasgow-based alternative indie-rock group Pronto Mama were formed in 2011.
The band released their first two EPs, Lickety Split and Niche Market in 2014 in quick succession, with their energetic presence gaining support from the likes of BBC 1 Introducing’s Ally McCrae.
After playing numerous gigs and festivals over the years, such as T in The Park, Belladrum and even a few dates in Poland in 2015, the band signed to Electric Honey in 2017.
Their highly anticipated album, Any Joy, was released in May 2017 and has since received airplay from both BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 6, as well as a nomination for Scottish Album of the Year.
I can remember exactly where I was when I picked up my copy of Any Joy. It was just over four years ago, when a group of bloggers from Germany, USA, England and Scotland decided it was time to put faces to the names and to have a weekend of fun and frivolity here in Glasgow. We had been in a few city centre ale houses but with it being a gloriously hot and sunny day, we made our way to a pub with outdoor seating, located on the banks of the River Kelvin in the West End. After a short time, a Glaswegian pop star walked into the pub. It was Ken McCluskey of The Bluebells, and of course I took the opportunity to say hello, introduce everyone and explain how we all got to know one another and the reasons for us being in Glasgow.
Ken was delighted to be able to say hello – Brian from Linear Tracking Lives in particular got a huge kick out of chatting to him. Ken also took the opportunity to introduce us to a brand-new CD, which wasn’t yet in the shops, by a band called Pronto Mama. It was due to be released on Electric Honey, a label attached to a college in Glasgow, where students can undertake a course looking at all aspects of the music business, and where Ken enjoyed a role, alongside the likes of Alan Rankine (ex-Associates) as one of the lecturers at the college. Ken very kindly gave Brian a free copy of the CD in acknowledgement of the fact he had come all the way over from Seattle, and while I was offered similar, I insisted on paying for mine.
mp3: Pronto Mama – Cold Arab Spring
Over the coming months, Any Joy got a fair amount of critical acclaim, and deservedly so, culminating in it being nominated for a SAY Award. The thing is, and what sadly seems to be too often the case when a band wonders what to do on the back of a debut album, (or indeed EP or single), Pronto Mama have disappeared off the radar, and I assume at some point decided to spilt up.
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 