This will be a big year for Glasgow's Twin Atlantic, with a new album that's odds-on to go Top 10, and a slot at the Ryder Cup concert at the SSE Hydro alongside the likes of Texas and Jake Bugg.
But such mainstream acceptance comes at a cost: the interesting angular edges of debut Vivarium have been smoothed away, while the thick guitar meat of predecessor Free has been sliced into easily digestible, airwaves-friendly morsels. Lead single Heart And Soul takes the simplistic I Love Rock And Roll route to arm-wave anthem; Brothers And Sisters twiddles its thumbs until it's rescued by a Snow Patrol chorus; I Am An Animal bounces to a Fratellis bump beat; the lyrics of Ocean ("I … don't want to live, don't want to die … alone") are made more maudlin by slathered-on strings. I'm not saying there aren't catchy tunes here - there surely are, all ramped up by impeccable production - but at times it's actually only a tiny step away from boy band music with a steelier backbone.
Alan Morrison
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