Glasvegas
Euphoric Heartbreak

I had forgotten about Glasvegas until RockTV started circulating some of their music videos again, and the first thing I thought was how the Scottish band wants to emulate the Depeche Mode style in their look even more than in their music. However, after listening to "Euphoric Heartbreaker," I can affirm that the group led by former footballer James Allan is not just an emulation band. After a good debut album, they have demonstrated their qualities.

While looking for information about the band, I noticed the supposed suicide attempt by J. Allan, which clearly ties into what is considered the album of rebirth, especially in the spirit in which it was written. It's no coincidence that the instrumental opener is a track titled "Pain Pain, Never Again," a prelude to the first real piece of the album. "The World Is Yours" (featured in the soundtrack of the Fifa 12 video game) surprises with its freshness and creativity, with strong indie references (and some songs by The Killers, "Human" above all) and the grey British alternative rock, as is the case with much of the album. The melodic flow of the track "You" is excellent, as are the melodies of the single "Shine Like Stars," which is driving album sales in recent weeks. There are no significant drops in quality; tracks like "Whatever Hurts Through You The Night" and "Dream Dream Dreaming" are very enjoyable and well-seasoned with 'synth' effects. Important themes are also tackled, such as the stance in favor of the homosexual sphere, of which Allan is probably a part, evident in tracks like "Stronger Than Dirt" and the very calm "I Feel Wrong."

The first single "Euphoria, Take Me Hand" (with a title that confirms my theory about the desire for rebirth) is among the best songs on the album, closer to Synth Pop than Indie. Overall, the negative note that can be highlighted is a potential soporific effect in case of a non-attitude to very calm and somewhat bland rhythms, though this also coincides with a personalization of the album, which appears little infected by the overdoing of record companies, which in recent years have accustomed us to a harmful contamination of several potentially good albums. Without going too much into specifics, I am surprised at how several movements of 'British music' considered dead or dying are actually alive and well. Paradoxically, the proclamations of newspapers and magazines that praise works like this one as potential masterpieces or the birth of superstars may be counterproductive.

Glasvegas are not superstars and probably never will be, but in light of this second good work, they make their mark in a land close to their hearts, the homeland of their own style.