Lord Cut-Glass @ King Tut's, 27 Jun

Temporarily shorn of The Phantom Band's tendency to marry Krautrock with avant-folk, frontman Rick Redbeard (***) is stripped down to his essence tonight, evoking Bonnie 'Prince' Billy at his most haunting and doe-eyed. Though Redbeard's vocal style – an indigenous brogue occasionally abetted by the wistful harmonising of his sister – is unique and sincere, subtle echoes of modern Americana continually bubble to the surface when the duo aren't drowned out by the drunken Jackson patter at the back.

Having already dished out the fruits of his long-incubated eponymous debut to audiences in Japan and (of course) Dunfermline, Alun Woodward as Lord Cut-Glass (****) is welcomed home by a faithful crowd flecked with members of Belle and Sebastian, the sadly defunct De Rosa and former Delgados associates. No pressure, then.

Lending an understated charm to proceedings, the omnipresent brass section augments the deadpan delivery of Woodward's frosty lines on Even Jesus Couldn't Love You as much as it ensures the galloping melodrama of the Midwestern-tinged You Know or the mariachi waltz of Monster Face. But Look After Your Wife proves to be the the clincher, the nebulous tempo changes and bluntly instructional lyricism proving that, in Lord Cut-Glass's empire at least, misery and ambition can merrily co-exist. [Dave Kerr]