Rustic rhythms, retro guitar licks and pulsing drum beats merge into the sound of this biting, garage rock kicking Glaswegian trio. Previous single ‘See You At The Lights’, litters “ba ba baaas’ around like cigarette ends to smoothen over the clanging percussion and tugging bass lines, to revive the rock n’ roll spirit in anyone who’ll listen. Carefree and dingy is a combination that has served rock purveyors well over time and ‘Cult Status’, has that Jet, The Rolling Stones and Thin Lizzy conjoining roll that could render the song title autobiographic, if they keep producing numbers of this ilk. A funky vibe is always needed to shake things up on albums of this style, ‘Aracade Precinct’ serves this purpose admirably.
 
A range of background atmospheric jolts in the form of jeering, cheering, handclapping and random shouts gives the album a friendly party feel. Something that the oft jamming-fuelled guitar hurled music also promotes, with ‘Enjoying Myself’ exemplifying this to a tee. A blues/funk rub attaches to ‘You’re Supposed To Be My Friend’, lending a serious tilt to matters. Desperation and depravity are themes that are never far away from the tight trio’s material. The labouring echo of ‘Pollockshields’, brings dinginess to the fore and the song-crafting starts to get drawn-out. A stop and start nature is imparted into the song structure, keeping things fresh and intriguing.

The tempo doesn’t build up continuously like many rock albums of bygone days, as each song takes on its own life and it is an approach that makes it easier to judge each song on its own merits. Atmospheric interludes of the Sonic Youth stylee show an attention to mood crafting. It is shown up best in the nostalgia fest of ‘Weed’. This Bernard Butler produced debut album, achieves the aim of showing the range and rugged nature of this backward gazing trio. It is an album that will serve several playbacks.

David Adair

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