Glasgow-based band Anchor Lane are aiming for a second debut with new album

The release of Anchor Lane’s second album feels like a do-over for the Glasgow-based band.

Not only because they didn’t get to fully experience their first record release in 2020 due to the pandemic, but also because so much has changed for the band in the past three years.

Now a trio – singer Conor Gaffney from Moodiesburn in Lanarkshire, guitarist Lawrence O’Brien from Dunfermline and drummer Graeme Newbury from Greenock – the rock group released new album, Call This A Reality?, on Friday.

“We felt we missed out last time – we were lucky to get 10 gigs in before lockdown and that was everything, bar one gig we did in Blackpool, which was a seated gig, and I got a row for asking the audience to sing along and clap,” recalled Gaffney, who formed the band eight years ago while he was at college. “By the time we were gigging again, the album, Casino, was old news.

“So this album is almost like a second debut, which not many people get. It’s worked out well, because there’s been a stylistic change and a mentality change, and Graeme has come in, too. A lot has changed and it’s probably for the better.”

The change of style, moving away from a classic rock-inspired sound to a more modern one with shades of Royal Blood and Biffy Clyro, was something that felt right.

“We’re a completely different band and writing the sort of music that was on Casino wouldn’t come naturally anymore,” Newbury said.

So, too, did losing their bass player shortly before recording on the latest album began change their sound.

“We considered bringing someone else in when Matthew left,” O’Brien said. “But it felt so right when it was just the three of us bringing the ideas together.”

Gaffney said: “When Bruce Rintoul, our producer, came in, he said sometimes there’s one person clouding the identity of the band and what it’s supposed to be, and I think that’s what happened, although we do love Matthew.”

With a top 10 entry in the UK Rock Albums Chart for their first release, performances at festivals like Download and Isle of Wight, and getting the chance to share the stage with musical heroes like Skindred, Tremonti and Eagles Of Death Metal, the band has lots of special memories so far and hope to build on those.

“Download was a big one – Conor had played it previously with the band in 2018, but he’s the only member of the group to play it twice,” Newbury said. “For me, it was supporting Skindred in Glasgow, because I’d gone to uni in London and they had come in to teach a masterclass and so it felt a full circle moment supporting them. It felt really cool and surreal.”

Getting the chance to rub shoulders with their heroes and see at close quarters how they operate has been an enlightening and unforgettable experience, but things didn’t quite go as smoothly when they supported American classic rock legends Cheap Trick in Glasgow.

Gaffney said: “They’re a great band but not one we listen to. Their management came to us and said Cheap Trick were going to tell us to go on stage and sing with them, and we should say no. So we told our management, who said we were definitely getting up on that stage.

“The band asked us to sing Surrender with them, and when we got up on stage, they put a mic in front of me to sing a verse. They had a screen on stage that was supposed to have the lyrics on it, but it was broken!

“Some of the online comments towards us after that gig were a bit spicy from the Cheap Trick fans!”

Anchor Lane, Krakatoa, Aberdeen, The Mash House, Edinburgh, February 24-25