Music Review

02 December 2008 01:59 BST

Attic Lights: Friday Night Lights

Island, out October 13th .

In a nutshell...

Jangle, jangle, jangle, jangle. Harmonies!

What's it all about?

Ten tracks and 35 minutes of the kind of music you thought Scottish bands had forgotten how to make.

Who's it by?

A bunch of Glaswegians who clearly like Teenage Fanclub a lot. So much so, in fact, their drummer, Francis Macdonald, produced this effort. String arrangements are by Bjorn Yttling, of Peter, Bjorn and John fame.

As an example...

"God, I'll be a better guy/Always been a fool for all the fools going by." - God

Likelihood of a trip to the Grammys

This effort will be lapped up by men of a certain age who still squeeze into a Bandwagonesque t-shirt most weekends and could perhaps even win a few new converts to the genre. Awards will not be showering down on them though.

What the others say

"Scottish rock's evergreen love affair with The Beach Boys, The Byrds and Big Star begins a fertile new chapter with Attic Lights." - Uncut

"Most likely to one day appear on a compilation called Now That's What I Call Shimmering Sad-Rock, Vol 1." - Guardian

So is it any good?

Behind all the bravado and headbutts Glasgow is a bit of a big softy really, at least when it comes to music. Rather than churning out metal bands or drum 'n' bass outfits, the city instead does a good line in jangly indie rock, the sort of stuff which wouldn't offend your gran. At least not too much.

Attic Lights are far from being the world's most original band but, in taking their cue from acts like Teenage Fanclub, they still manage to breathe fresh air into a music industry which is currently overly obsessed with Arctic Monkeys and the knock-off acts riding on the tails of their tracksuit tops.

This is all good stuff, packed with 12-sting guitars and sing-along choruses Friday Night Lights is the most Bandwagonesque-esque release to make its way down from north of the border in sometime. If you don't find yourself doo-wopping along by the second track, there's something wrong with you.

Frankly delightful string arrangements mean that as well as never dipping into the kind of territory navigated by the Thrills, there are also echoes of one-time Glasgow stalwarts the Delgados. It doesn't take a keen ear to pick up hints of Ash in their poppier moments here, either.

There's a good chance Friday Night Lights will be long forgotten by this time next year, which is a terrible shame. Having said that, anyone hanging on for the ninth Teenage Fanclub album should get themselves down the shops now.

8/10

Will Stevens