Glasvegas - Glasvegas (2008)

Will American audiences gamble on Glasvegas? 6^th January sees the North American release of the critically acclaimed debut album from the Scottish four piece. Fortunately, the Yanks won't be subjected to the bewildering hype machine that has enveloped their music on these shores, and will most likely make judgement based on the perceived quality of the product. Frankly, the odds are stacked against Glasvegas to succeed in a vast continent where the printed music media has far less influence and reach. Secondly, success for regionally accented UK bands in America has been about as common as a James Allan smile. One weapon in the Glasvegas arsenal that will serve them well is that they make a towering noise, deliberately designated for stadium audiences that have fully embraced similar musical scope from the likes of U2 and Simple Minds in the past. Glasvegas' persona may be shrinking, almost nonchalant, but their riposte is in a performance style that relies less on clever linguistics or complex musical abilities, more on creating atmospheric crescendos and vastly reverberated soundscapes that some fans remark on as almost 'spiritual' achievements.

"Glasvegas" largely succeeds in its fuzzy anthemia; an expansion of Spectoresque sonics and Jesus & Mary Chain bluster, building monumentally macho, echo driven snapshots of a dysfunctional society filled with violence, family breakdown and social deprivation. The swelling backdrop of untimely death shadows the opener "Flowers And Football Shirts", as Allan quickly steps into grieving angst merchant, closing the song with a never more sombre "You are my sunshine" refrain. There's a rallying cry for terrace worship in the "Here we f*%king go" shout out on "Go Square Go" which doesn't interpret well to an audience of one. "Geraldine" is undoubtedly the most intriguing ode to compassionate social workers ever written, an epic single, and probably the highlight of the album. If Allan and his band were aiming for ironically brilliant musical association or willful plagiarism on "Daddy's Gone", one will never know, but the backing melody is staggeringly close to Ben E. King's "Stand By Me". "Stabbed", with its lonely "Moonlight Sonata" piano backing, and Allan's vocal sounding almost paralyzed with fear actually works really well.

Overall it's a strong debut performance, simple yet powerful, and fortunately not derailed by the fawning hype (particularly from NME) that greeted its release. Perhaps without this unnecessary burden, American audiences will judge "Glasvegas" on its own merit

7/10