Into Live Music Review: Swim School
Concert: Swim School
Venue: Glasgow Queen Margaret Union
Dates: 14 November 2025
Isn’t it great to see a band raise the roof at a major venue in front of an adoring young team? This was the observation of my gig colleague, Ian, as we witnessed first-hand, how quickly fortunes can be transformed through determination, hard work and just that little bit of luck. It wasn’t the latter attribute that brought us through to the QMU on a wet and windy Friday night, though. There was no luck at all in that decision, this being the hottest ticket in town.
Swim School is currently one of the most coveted properties in the evergreen Scottish Indie music scene, having just released their outstanding debut LP, imaginatively titled, This is the Debut Album at the end of October 2025. Formed in Edinburgh in 2018, the band comprises core members Alice Johnson (vocals), and Lewis Bunting (guitar). Original bassist Matt Mitchell and drummer Nairn Mile have since been replaced by Lee Brown and Billy McMahon, respectively. Akin to most young acts, the COVID pandemic stunted live progress, if not their writing prowess. A trio of EPs released in 2021/22, Volume 1, Making Sense of It All and Duality showed initial promise and subsequent singles from 2023 onwards have shown steady progress as the band found both its feet and an atmospheric and sculpted sound, redolent of Slowdive.
Despite this, the band has until recently, only been known amongst the fertile Bandcamp community and local Edinburgh and Lothians scene. Supporting Irish rockers, Inhaler on their ‘Cuts and Bruises’ tour two year ago, introduced Swim School to a new audience, helping them develop a confident stage persona, something that instantly strikes you when you see them live. Vocalist Johnson in particular, has charisma in abundance which compliments her strong voice. And while the band has great stage presence, looks and poise, that would be futile if they didn’t have the songs. And boy do they have the tunes!
Having attended the LP launch at Assai Records on Hallowe’en, and speaking with the band afterwards, it was with excitement and anticipation that Swim School undertook their first major UK and Ireland tour. The band is thriving playing most nights to bigger audiences, and Glasgow was clearly special as it’s the only Scottish date. Opening with the anthemic rush of ‘Always on My Mind’ the mostly young audience are immediately gripped, and it continues to build for the hour or so of stage time. ‘Am I Good Enough Now?’ the bold Alice asked us, knowingly full well that this was a song that expressed some of the struggles she has unfortunately suffered with misogynist audiences throughout the band’s early years. Ian and I marveled at the levels of engagement amongst the young team – at one point I witnessed a backflip near the front – but still the music thundered on.
By encore ‘See Red’ the QMU was jumping and we fairly bounced out of the venue into the dark and wet Glasgow streets. But we did so knowing that we were there, at the vanguard of the crusade. Swim School can literally be anything they want to be. They do anthems, they slow it down and strip it back, before tearing the walls down again. See you in 2026!
To keep up to date with Swim School head over to their website here.
Review by Grant McKenzie
@GrantMcKenzie17
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