Prides

The Way Back Up

(Island)

Big, anthemic, glossily produced, and with a lead single titled Messiah... It would appear that Scottish trio Prides have Hydro-sized ambitions right from the off. And so they should, because as the latest local band to release a debut album on a major label, they've absolutely nailed the trick of marrying classic pop hooks to a harder-edged Glasgow underground electro sound in a not-too-dissimilar way to Chvrches.

It's only two years since the synthpop band formed, although all three members - Stewart Brock, Callum Wiseman and Lewis Gardiner - earned their stripes the previous decade in various bands on the local scene. Nevertheless, Prides have been on an accelerated journey that now shifts up a gear with The Way Back Up (notable too for being in the first batch of albums to come out on the new global release date of a Friday rather than a Monday).

The album sums up everything they've done to date - singles Out Of The Blue, I Should Know You Better, Higher Love and the aforementioned Messiah lead the assault - but also proves that every time they put pen to paper they've got the infectious tunes, the big-boned harmonies, the thickset beats to break far beyond UK shores. Mainstream Scottish pop has just found a new set of local heroes.

Alan Morrison