Music: The Snuts

In terms of ambition and self-belief, The Snuts could teach us all a thing or two. This time last year the young unsigned band from West Lothian played Glasgow's King Tuts, selling out the 300-capacity venue in a day.

Twelve months later, they are set to play the city's cavernous SWG3 to more than four times that number.

Like The Libertines, Arctic Monkeys and The View before them, The Snuts make the sort of melodic anthems that can turn a casual listener into full-blown devotee with the band's name tattooed on a bicep.

Playing TRNSMT festival on Glasgow Green in July, The Snuts drew the biggest crowd of the weekend to the King Tuts Stage. They also picked up fans and plaudits away from home turf from Bristol to FIB Benicassim in Spain, where festival founder Melvin Benn said the day after their performance that The Snuts were the "best guitar band you’ll see".

Frontman Jack Cochrane says the band's early success in building a base is due to sharing demos online of the likes of early belter Proper and Glasgow, a track where his guitar duels with that of Joe McGillveray to shimmering effect.

“People don't seem to do a lot of that now,” says Cochrane. “It gave us a chance to showcase our stuff, let people hear a wider range of what we have. We take it all pretty seriously and we want to do it all on our own terms in our own way."

When it came to playing their debut UK tour in October, Cochrane, McGillveray and crack rhythm section Callum Wilson (bass) and Jordan Mackay (drums) were playing to full rooms. The tour coincided with the release of Manhattan Project, a biting, sharp "combination of war and romance wrapped up tightly inside a 2018 indie anthem", as Cochrane puts it.

With ink still drying on a recent deal with Parlophone, the impressive track is an indication the band will be unstoppable when they release their debut album.

Currently being worked on at Gorbals Sound in Glasgow, the record will be released after they make their US debut in March at South By South West.

"It's a different demographic, but I think there's a place for us there," Cochrane says.

It's a long way from Whitburn, where the band often played with Lewis Capaldi, another man set for a big 2019.

"I went to school with him and we'd play a lot of the same pubs and gigs," says Cochrane. "It's a really great scene there, it's really bursting with bands and artists."

He adds: "It's difficult for guitar bands to get signed, and it's hard to be noticed when you're not from the big cities. So it was about making sure we stood out."

Best friends since the four were 15, The Snuts "spend every waking minute together", says Cochrane.

A gang united by the ambition to “make the best music we can”, there's little tension in the band.

"Because we have been friends for so long and have spent so much time together, we know how to all get on well,” Cochrane says. “We know which buttons not to push. It's a good thing, a good feeling. We all know what we want to do, so that makes us focus on things. There's no friction, we all work together.”

He adds: "We always wanted to be the best. We're pretty competitive when it comes to it. We want to be the best band in Britain, and even if we're not quite there yet, I think we're well on our way to becoming that."