Debut album from this up and coming Glasgow band finds them delivering powerful and driving, studio recorded performances of tracks that had previously only seen the light of day on early demos, and the result is outstanding. The album begins with “Bue Tae And Hate Dred” which is a driving opener mixing intensity with pop, with an initial soaring vocal singing the verses with a deliberate sneer, as jangly guitar, tambourine rhythm, bouncing bass and chugging drums provide a suitably bouncy backing – then it goes supernova – as this scything guitar figure is unleashed – before veering back to the main verse – as this is its pattern – and it's superb as a novel and individual take on modern indie songwriting and arranging lights up your life with a mix of indie-pop, ska and driving force. “Boydie” is just a classic song as this classic, almost sixties-sounding, guitar hook bursts into life and the song is another gem of a bouncing sensation with a vocalist delivering it all like a cross between The View and Balaclava Models, the band driving it all into this huge, heady chorus which, mixed with the instrumental backing, becomes the sort of contemporary indie pop with a sixties twang that really takes hold and makes you want to play it over and over again. “Someone Else” is deivered with a much larger sounding arrangement as synth horns give extra depth and strength while the surge of electric guitar and the solid lurch of the rhythm section back a stretched out anthem of a vocal. The verses are delivered with sensitivity before the verse-as-chorus takes-off higher and higher, the singer and backing proving truly uplifting and powerful.
“Wave In Your Lotus” is slightly slower with a more optimistic vocal and jangly guitars that are briefly interrupted by a wave of guitar riffs for something that's almost a hook, but the whole song with all its layers and lightness above the sizzling undercurrents, really has a hypnotic effect with a sense of light and shade to its arrangement that really hits the spot. “TV Took My Soul” launches into life with surging riffs as this almost lazy vocal is spat out to perfection over the driving rhythms, jangly guitars and steaming riffs as the stretched out vocals on the verses become anguished vocals on the chorus and the whole thing sounds like some lost late seventies CBGB's “Noo Yawk” punk band come to life in modern times, delivered with passion and purpose, strong and streaming, familiar yet brand new and refreshing, a solid song that ticks every box.
“Country Killer” could not be more different as this initially celestial, turning into strident, indie-ballad is played and sung to perfection, sounding almost like a cross between Blur and Supergrass, with delicate guitars, chunky rhythms, delicate yet strong lead vocals, a jaunty arrangement, neat textural synth backdrops, an expansive almost slightly decelerated, Beatles-esque “I Am, The Walrus” type of production and a delivery which heralds a song that is itself one giant of memorability and accessibility, gorgeously performed. “15 Dogs Pour Down” starts quietly but soon launches into a high-flying chorus accompanied by keys and guitars as the initially lurching rhythm section, lights up and powers along the guitars and strident piano, while the singer rises above it all with emotion and strength, subtlety and feeling, the arrangement alternating between slower verses and heady choruses.
“Freedom Town” is a driving pop-rocker which features bouncing backing on sprawled out verses that are embellished with synth horns as the soaring vocals climb even higher into the uplifting hammer of the chorus as the undercurrent of guitar riffs and rhythm section provide an intensity that serves the song well on a huge sounding arrangement that really hits the spot, another gem of strident, mid-paced, lurching irresistibility of an indie-pop composition of the highest order. “Blood Red Eyes” is a slightly slower set of verses that rises into a surge of intensity on harmony-filled choruses as the band riff and crunch at a mid-paced density that reveals more depth and strength from the guitars as it travels, before dropping back to another gloriously balladic verse only to intensify into that towering chorus once again, and so it goes, ever higher and more majestic. “Get Off The Streets” takes off like a rocket as this rifle-fire sea of rock 'n' roll rhythms hurtles along under stabbing guitar riffs, soaring wordless harmonies, pounding bass and this anguished, angry Scottish vocal that sounds like he's about to go out and hang himself, so bad is his plight, as the thing rolls along with authority, and you can't fail to be carried along with it, with that chorus hanging around in your head. A mid-section few seconds of almost space-rock guitars leads to the almost Lydon-esque finale as Public Image-meets-punk rock to bring the surging track to an abrupt halt.
“Original Widescreen Versions Of Ourselves” features a soaring lone guitar figure above cymbal splashes and deep bass, as a mournful lead vocal plus a sudden explosion of guitars takes centre stage, veering rapidly from one part to the other before the harmony vocals emerge and the song effortlessly drives forward, from mid-paced to anthemic with its sense of light and shade, dramatic and sedate, making it something to treasure, again a bit View-esque but establishing its own identity with ease and a great sense of glory. The CD ends with “I'm The One You Hold”, an almost Beatles-esque, Lennon-influenced song that slowly drives along with its initially hushed lead vocal delivering the observational lyric with bitterness, biting wit and passionate yearning, the song backed by jangly guitars and delicate yet strident rhythms. The arrangement builds slowly into this canyon-sized anthem of textural guitars and endless vocal harmonies, powered by beefy rhythms as this brief, modern-day take on an “I Am The Walrus” styled finale, takes the song, and the album, to a glorious fade-out conclusion.
Recorded, played and sung with total quality and memorable enjoyment, forget everything you've ever heard before by this band for this is the real deal and amply shows exactly what the band is capable of delivering, and that's a dozen examples of memorably powerful indie songs that you'll want to play and play.