Ex-Amorettes and Tequila Mockingbyrd members unite to form The Hot Damn!

(Image credit: The Hot Damn!)

Last year, Scottish rockers The Amorettes and Anglo-Aussie firebrands Tequila Mockingbyrd confounded tradition by losing various members, then joining forces as a single entity operating under both names to complete each other's touring commitments.

Now the two bands have officially tied the knot and joined their considerable forces together for a brand new venture entitled The Hot Damn! (exclamation mark theirs). And they've made a trailer to celebrate! (below, exclamation mark ours).

Joining Amorettes guitarist and singer Gill Montgomery and T-Byrds drummer Josie O'Toole are guitarist Laurie Buchanan from Aaron Buchanan and the Cult Classics – who was part of last year's membership swap – and bassist Lzi Hayes, who wasn't.

Confused? We'll let them explain.

"The best thing to come from 2019 was meeting these amazing girls, which made everything fall into place with great ease and excitement," says Montgomery. "Merge? Yeah! Feeling we had possibly outgrown our collective communal shoes, a fresh start seemed enticing.

"A lot of people think we are mad to do it... but we've been beavering away behind the scenes and we are so excited about the new sounds. We absolutely can't wait to share them with everyone!"

"It's a funny time to launch a band," adds O'Toole. "We can't just jump in the van like we usually would, but we couldn't sit still any longer. There's so much that goes on behind the scenes so we're trying to share as much of that as possible - from the actual song-writing process, to culinary concoctions on studio road trips.

"It's all part of the journey and hopefully means people will have a good idea of what we're all about by the time we can finally hit the stages again."

The band have promised to clarify things further during a live Q&A streamed on their Facebook page, which will take place at 8pm UK time this Thursday. They'll also make a "special announcement" at the same time: we just hope they're not adding more members.

In the meantime, there's new music to look forward to, which promises to be a mix of "Queen, The Struts, Blondie, The Darkness and Blink-182." Marvellous.

Online Editor at Louder/Classic Rock magazine since 2014. 40 years in music industry, online for 27. Also bylines for: Metal Hammer, Prog Magazine, The Word Magazine, The Guardian, The New Statesman, Saga, Music365. Former Head of Music at Xfm Radio, A&R at Fiction Records, early blogger, ex-roadie, published author. Once appeared in a Cure video dressed as a cowboy, and thinks any situation can be improved by the introduction of cats. Favourite Serbian trumpeter: Dejan Petrović.