Don't you just love a freebie? A kooky promotional item handed to you in the street, perhaps, or your favourite band rewarding your loyalty with a shiny new mp3: freebies are designed to make your day a bit better. But what about freebies that make you want to dance and smile and skip and sing? Oh, Glasgow School Of Art, you're spoiling us.

Yep, you heard right: The Glasgow School Of Art Goes Pop CD is set to splatter its musical-coloured paint in nightclubs, shops and geeky fanzines everywhere for free. And what you get in this bargainous zero-pence deal is priceless: a juicy taste of the best music the Glasgow scene has to offer.

Isosceles kick off proceedings with a noise that can only be described as 'spaceship-like', before launching into a marching anthem that sees the band helpfully spelling their own name. Hidden Masters sound like Iggy And The Stooges reciting nursery rhymes, while The Low Miffs combine jaunty guitars with far-away, spooky vocals. Clean George's 'A Five For You' has the effortlessly cool sound that bands like Razorlight can only dream of, and... well, we could go on for days, but rest assured that nothing on this 23-track wonder disappoints.

While every song is indeed enough to make you want to move to Scotland's biggest city and form a band right in the middle of Nice 'n Sleazy, there are a few standouts whose creators are surely destined for greatness. We Were Promised Jetpacks are an enigma - they're unsigned, but 'Let's Call This A Map' is better than loads of the singles we've heard this year. Plaaydoh are ramshackle, fun and cute, like The Go! Team's younger siblings. Ming Ming and the Ching Chings, however, turn up slap-bang in the middle of the album and try their best to blow everyone out of the water. 'Show Off' is a rollercoaster of yelling, spoken word verses, racing rhythms and cowbells, and it's unfailingly amazing. If they've not chucked the likes of the Ting Tings out of the charts soon enough there's no justice in the world.

Lessons to be learned, then: Glasgow is, quite simply, the place to be; bands called things like Gummy Stumps musn't be ignored despite their silly names; and if you find yourself being offered this album the next time you're stumbling out of your local generic indie club, accept with pleasure. It might just make your day.

The Glasgow School Of Art Goes Pop Official Site

Buy The Glasgow School Of Art Goes Pop CDs! | Buy The Glasgow School Of Art Goes Pop mp3s! | Buy The Glasgow School Of Art Goes Pop tickets! | Buy The Glasgow School Of Art Goes Pop merch!

Username

Password

Not yet registered?