Fifty years is a long time to stay in the game. The Rezillos, who came out of Edinburgh in 1976 with a sound that was faster, louder, and more fun than almost anything else happening in British music at the time, have marked that anniversary the only sensible way: by making something new. Psycho Tornado is out now, all original songs, co-produced by Fay Fife and Martin Metcalfe, and released through Last Night From Glasgow, the independent Scottish label that has quietly become one of the country's most important champions of homegrown music.
The album arrives on three vinyl variants as well as CD and digital, which tells you something about the audience. Rezillos fans are not passive listeners. They buy the record, they own the object, they turn it up. That kind of loyalty is not manufactured. It is earned over decades of showing up, staying sharp, and never pretending to be something you're not.
Last Night From Glasgow, for anyone who hasn't come across them, is worth knowing about. Founded in Glasgow, the label has built a reputation for releasing exactly the music it believes in, without chasing formats or trends. Pairing with The Rezillos for a milestone release like this is a statement of intent from both sides. According to the label's own releases catalogue, they have consistently backed Scottish artists at a time when the London music industry routinely looks past anything north of Manchester.
The Rezillos' original run produced Can't Stand The Rezillos in 1978, an album that still sounds like it was recorded this morning if you play it loud enough. The BBC's archive coverage of the Scottish punk era has long cited them as one of the defining acts of that moment, not just regionally but nationally. Reforming and continuing to record is, in their case, not nostalgia. It is stubbornness, which is a completely different thing and considerably more admirable.
Edinburgh has a habit of producing things that last. The Rezillos are, at this point, an institution, in the best possible sense: self-built, self-governed, and still making noise on their own schedule. Psycho Tornado is available now wherever you get your music, and on vinyl if you have the good sense to own a turntable.