St Deluxe – St Deluxe

Having played their own small part in the 20-year-long shape-shifting story of Glasgow indie darlings BMX Bandits, Jamie Cameron and Martin Kirwan decided it was time they took centre stage, and so here we have St Deluxe, now a quartet with added drummer and bassist. They’re not a band to disavow the obvious influence of their low-slung guitar wielding predecessors, and although it’s Sonic Youth who sit atop their MySpace list, the more immediate impression is the scuzzy lo-fi of Pavement. OK, so we’re in the '90s grunge-rock ballpark, and St Deluxe seem happy enough to stay there, thrashing out simple songs of skewed pop sentiment like Can’t Change and Stupid Ideas. And just when their debut album seems in danger of becoming too homogeneous, the penultimate track Distant Light unveils another facet to St Deluxe with its sweeping FX and forlorn lyrics, steering them clear of the BMX Bandits' shadow. [Nick Mitchell]