Broken Records - If The News Makes You Sad Don't Watch It (Young Turks)
UK release date: 14 April 2008
The grubby little guitar sound that opens If The News Makes You Sad... gives little impression of what Broken Records are all about.
So give it a brief few seconds until the violin kicks in, leading the seven-piece into the kind of huge sound most commonly heard from Arcade Fire. Then you'll get a real sense for how and why this band have become one of the most talked about on the Scottish scene.
It's the kind of massive anthem to which you expect to see thousands of people with unkempt hair and charity shop clothes marching down the street playing instruments or hitting bin lids together as make-shift percussion - it's got spirit and drive like only a few bands have ever achieved. And on the b-side, Broken Records reveal more of their own mysterious magnificence with a slower number that seems equally powerful in a completely different way.