Glaswegian four-piece Crash My Model Car is led by Iain Morrison who tried for several years to find the right instrumental vehicle for his songs. Looks like he’s come up trumps… The album comprises songs written over the last three years, and during a time when the band built a solid reputation in live performance circles. The major challenge for any band is to establish a distinctive sound in harness with great song-writing. Opening track, ‘In Dreams’, seems to indicate the band has managed both. There’s a strong folk vibe enforced by the gentle, quivering lead vocal, wispy vocal harmonies and subtle instrumentation. Melody is an important part of the make-up here and is even more evident on the next delightful track, ‘Siren.’ Morrison provides a more free-ranging vocal performance that adds substantially to the song’s beauty. ‘West Coast Train’ is a song with choruses that lift the song to another, higher level after calm, almost monotone verses. It ends up being one of the highlights of this album. ‘The Flying Rodleighs’ is a stripped down beauty with just the brush of cymbals and drums, with the steady hum of a harmonium in the background. It’s a more contemplative, edgier song that opens out a little more instrumentally as it approaches its conclusion. ‘Maybe’ takes on a more aggressive rock tone and again boasts a fabulous chorus. The guitar riffs and vocals soar in what is another album highlight, and one that adds diversity to songs that tend to this point feel a tad similar. ‘Omu Prin & Me’ also sounds quite different as brass is introduced for the first time and a talking vocal features. It’s another album highlight. ‘She’ll Go All The Way With You’ is a moody, slow-burning indie rock song that adds crashing instrumentals to the choruses to add more spice to this very good collection of songs. The final track, ‘Taking The Lot’, is a haunting beauty with the most fragile vocal on the album. But then the song builds around the middle-eight with guitars and drums dominating to provide a fitting climax to the album. This is a grower and will undoubtedly feature in our list of ‘albums of the year’ next month. Strongly recommended.

4/5