The musical capital of the world? It's not even close in my mind.
Glasvegas, who are Glasgow natives (see Camera Obscura, The Twilight Sad, Frightened Rabbit, Lloyd Cole, Teenage Fanclub, Belle and Sebastian, Paolo Nutini, Amy MacDonald, Mogwai, Franz Ferdinand and a host of others who have considerably brightened the musical landscape over the past ten years), have released a very, very fine self-titled debut album.
NME
has dubbed them "the best new band in Britain," which is usually a sure
sign of the Hype Machine in Overdrive. But this time they could be
right. This is a surprisingly bracing combination of Jesus and Mary
Chain guitar buzz, Proclaimers vocal bluster (complete with sometimes
almost impenetrable Scots brogue), and, incredibly, impossibly,
romantic '50s doo-wop. I like it a lot. The subject matter -- aimless
violence, ennui, football yobs, endless pints, chasing skirts -- might
be the best rock 'n roll portrait of disaffected youth since those
early Clash albums. Best of all is the unnerving "Stabbed," in which
lead singer James Alan matter-of-factly proclaims, "I'm gonna get
stabbed/The Baltic fleeto are up my arse/No cavalry could ever save me"
to the accompaniment of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata. Stunning.