Quickbeam

Quickbeam

(Comets & Cartwheels)

Cellos ... they're the new rock'n'roll. To a list that includes eagleowl and Turning Plates now add Quickbeam, another Scottish band who are astutely aware that bowed strings can bring a cinematic grandeur to a folksy post-rock style. Beauty abides in every corner of this debut album from the Glasgow-based quartet. Opening track Remember sounds a bit like Biffy Clyro's Many Of Horrors sneaked through the back door of the Conservatoire for an elegant makeover, as the chordal escalation of the chorus gives way to strings and piano phrases that wrap around, over and beneath each other. Sparse without lacking substance, the core musical palette is enriched at times by melancholic harmonium, explosive drumming, stately brass or a train-in-a-tunnel advance of guitar distortion. These arrangements look to the north (Sigur Ros is surely a reference point) as each song's measured pace becomes the perfect match for the luxuriance of the instrumental music and the evocative images conjured up by the lyrics. Part-funded by Creative Scotland, the end result sounds like a million dollars.

Alan Morrison