The God-Fearing Atheists' self-financed debut album owes a considerable debt to early REM. Peter Lacey, despite his Glasgow punk heritage, does a fair imitation of Michael Stipe's vocals and the warm, jangling lead guitar evokes Peter Buck's melodic chimes. Hitting their stride quickly on St Judes' Parade, they rarely diverge from melancholic Americana, with Lacey's lonesome harmonica and Joe Whyte's pedal steel rounding out the delicate sadness. Some Letters Write Themselves rouses itself into an anthem of angst, while Mississipi is a Dylanesque rocker. The album trickles like a gentle stream, rarely imposing itself and revelling in its influences - musically and lyrically, the GFA are firmly in the United States of Country. Although this makes them easily identifiable, it is also their weakness: if Neil Young had been born in Glasgow, would he have abandoned his own heritage as absolutely? Rustbelt Sun is a competent, mellow slow-burner, but could be less in thrall to its influences and show more personality. [Gareth K Vile]