The Birthday Suit – The Eleventh Hour

Anyone who has listened to a Scottish indie record in the past decade will be able to join the dots between The Birthday Suit and their notable heritage. Formed by Idlewild guitarist Rod Jones, this side-project, if you will, doesn’t stray too far from the pop-rock template Jones and his bandmates laid down with the incendiary likes of 100 Broken Windows and The Remote Part.

Jones’ knack for a more literal and direct lyrical melody is an idiosyncratic strong point here though. The seamless double-opener of Do You Ever and Hope Me Home are, respectively, raucous and anthemic in all the right places but the ballad-like They Say I Love You and the jangly guitar chug of Are You OK? are equal highlights. Beyond this there’s a slight recycling of these themes to lesser effect, but The Eleventh Hour is a welcome latecomer. [Darren Carle]