Glasvegas (Audio CD)

MEGA!!! the music, the lyrics, the guitars, the drums, the voice!! everything about this album is MEGA!! buy it!!!

If you like Pete Wylie you'll love this! I caught "Daddy's Gone" on the radio back in August. I don't listen to Radio 1 any more but I was in a friend's car and this just stood head and shoulders above anything else was hearing on the station. I just had to have it. Listening from the start I thought this was probably the perfect alnum. Unfortuantely a couple of tracks (Stabbed and Ice Cream Van)at the end of the album lost their way. However this couldn't be anything other than a 5 star review as the preceding tracks are just outstanding. Having been a Pete Wylie/Wah fan for years I didn't expect anything to surpass his "wall of sound" on Story of the Blues. Sorry Pete this does it for me. Please don't think I'm inferring that Glasvegas have copied the sound. They stand on their own. Can I pre-order their second album now!!

Brave and Moving Debut Like many I heard the plaintive Daddy's Gone last year and was moved by it's emotional punch and deft songwriting. Further investigations confirmed that Glasvegas have a number of exceptional songs which really move the listeners. Obvious references are the Jesus and Mary Chain and Phil Spector and they are mined for their full potential but this album is much braver than just Ronettes imitation for a number of reasons: 1. A number of the tracks feature long ambient sequences which build slowly and demand something of the listener before breaking out into the poppier side of the band - in fact the first couple of minutes of the album are an example! 2. James's decision to keep the raw Weejie brogue may have won him some fans in Scotland but could have lost some in other places - I think it's spot on and gives the work a more sincere feel. 3. Finally, the material is nothing less than challenging [Social Work, Depression, Casual Violence] but at the same time greatly uplifting. I'm told that they signed their current deal with the proviso that the second album would be a full-fledge Christmas album - what an album that is going to be! Phil Spector look out... All in all a powerful debut and well-worth buying - love, Neil

A debut with great promise Maybe its a colloquial thing: I'm holding my hands up straight away to admit, yes, I am a Glaswegian and thus perhaps more pre-disposed for enjoying Glasvegas than your typical home-counties type (although, perhaps it has a special exotic appeal to southerners that I can't quite appreciate). Not since The...(nnnnnngh!)...Proclaimers were in their prime has an unadulterated Scottish accent graced a hit record so stridently; this time it doesn't even induce the usually ubiqutous "Tartan Cringe" in me. There is something patently thrilling about hearing the cry of "Go Square Go!" at full volume - what next, "Haunders!" or even "Keeyzees nae comebacks!"? Of course, its not simply the novelty of hearing local dialect that make them a bit magical. Glasvegas are a band that wear their influences on their sleeve, and I'm not just meaning their all-black leather biker jackets and the Roy Orbison raybans.The Jesus & Mary Chain loom large, as does Phil Spector and that 50's surf rock'n'roll balladeering; lyrically, premier Falkirk miserablists Arab Strap deserve a shout, not least for the bleeding raw emotion on display. Reviewers who decry a lack of original thought should recall The Strokes' debut and the impact it managed to make (yes, yes, I know they ran out of steam by the second album but they pretty much revived indie rock as a pop medium after that turgid 1998-2001 period). The fact is, whilst the rest of indie-pop land is in thrall to Mardy Bums and trouble at t'mill, or are making music with their big brother's old Commodore 64, Glasvegas are happily plowing their own unique furrow: NO-ONE out there sounds like them right now. Oddly enough, I can see a cross-over appeal with guyliner-clad emo fans - maybe its time to lose the insincere Americans for a bit in favour of something closer to home (and gothier-than-thou) eh kids? My only misgiving is the feeling that after about 5 songs (misfit oddity "Stabbed" aside), there is the distinct feeling that the band start to repeat themselves somewhat; then again, I said that about Nevermind and that never did Nirvana any harm. Then AGAIN again, I do have reservations about their long term future if they do indeed turn out to be one-trick ponies. In the mean time, lets just bask in the moment where a (genuinely) good Scottish band are top of their game. ...

Phenomenal! This album should be sponsored by Irn Bru as its made in Scotland and made o' Girders. Not merely songs aboot gettin' stabbed and fightin' (although that is subject for a couple of songs) the songs also show different perspectives and hidden depths.