Twee As Fuck @ Stereo, 24 Aug

With a love heart stamp upon entry and free cupcakes on the door, tonight’s instalment of Glasgow’s Twee as Fuck club has either trundled headfirst into absolute parody, or is simply playing up to its image by indulging in a safe spot of tongue-in-cheek mockery. Having created something of a self contained scene of late, there’s something undeniably comforting about the familiar troupe of acts on the bill, although, as transpires tonight, such comfort doesn’t always make for most inspiring music.

That said, the relatively fresh out of the box, Peter Parker’s (***) ambitious punk-pop attitude helps build a nice buzz in tandem with the crowing crowd that filters in to catch another set from Wake the President (**), who are fast becoming a local institution at such nights. The main concern, however, is that they appear increasingly cocooned by the maternal assurances of such scene-themed nights. As a symptom their set this evening harks of a band with nothing left to prove, at least not to this audience. And if that's all they've set out to achieve, they're winning, but outside of their immediate vista WTP appear increasingly minnow-like amongst the wider pool of Scottish acts.

Headliners, Sexy Kids, (**) signal a change in tack, but ultimately disappoint for much the same reasons as the last band on stage. Prescribing to the by-the-numbers blueprint set so many years ago by Belle and Sebastian, what was once a freshly liberating approach now plays out as formulaic and tired, and such a lack of daring may just prove to be the noose with which these acts hang themselves. [Paul Neeson]