How to Get to Heaven From Scotland

Glasgow's acclaimed indie scene has thrown up no shortage of great bands, from the Jesus and Mary Chain and Teenage Fanclub to Belle and Sebastian and, latterly, Frightened Rabbit, but all too often, it ain't half miserable. Anyone looking for another helping of booze, bad sex, self-loathing, violence and heartbreak (all sung in a thick Scottish accent) to file alongside their Hefner, Arab Strap and Twilight Sad albums won't find Aidan Moffat's latest album wanting. But really, anyone who doesn't live on a solid diet of cheap cider and deep fried pizza shouldn't need to listen to this sort of stuff more than three times a year, unless they have some serious problems.

This is Moffatt's fourth album post-Arab Strap, and musically at least, it's a surprisingly eclectic set. Over the course of twelve songs he finds room for electronic beats, bar-room singalongs, down-home folk as well as his former band's stock-in-trade, snail-paced dirges. Lyrically, the usual themes abound: lines like “You ignored me at the barbecue“, “Why would you waste your time on me?”, “We were drunk, well fed and undressed” are all delivered in the customary flat Glaswegian brogue. 'Oh Men!' is a hoedown in homage to the lecherousness of will-sleep-with-anything-that-walks men (apparently “exceptions are few“), while 'Living With You Now' is a grim tale of savage domestic violence.

In fairness to Moffatt, he's capable of an occasional lightness of touch. On the jaunty ‘Big Blonde’ he comes across like a Scottish counterpart to Bonnie Price Billy in Ease Down the Road mode, and in his folkier moments, the record has a pleasant played-in-your-living room feel, not unlike James Yorkston’s earlier material. Occasionally, he even gets close to a tune. But the all-pervading air of squalor make this record a tough ordeal.