Glasvegas - It's My Own Cheating Heart That Makes Me Cry (Saneman)
UK release date: 18 February 2008
'Wall Of Sound' was the famous term that Phil Spector conjured up to describe his production, and it's fitting that self-proclaimed Spector obsessives Glasvegas have reclaimed the term as their own.
The broadest Scottish brogues this side of The Proclaimers, lashings of feedback and multi-layered guitars and a massive dosage of self-loathing all combine here to produce one of the most compelling singles in months. They may be the new 'sound of young Scotland', but at times this sounds like a throwback to the days of the Jesus & Mary Chain.
Lead singer James Allen sounds desperately on the point of tears at times as he recounts "the strangers and stragglers I've kissed...it's all about going out and getting pissed with eagle eyes, and sincerity bottom of my list" while his band create a dramatic barrage of noise behind him.
They're probably an acquired taste - indeed, it's hard to imagine them joining fellow 'Sound of 2008' nominees Adele and Duffy at the top of the charts - but they're one well worth investigating.