Glasvegas // Glasvegas
With his gruff Scotch brogue and violently gelled quiff, James Allan looked more like a hardened Motherwell thug than a troubled troubadour. With Glasvegas, however, the former footballer showed off his tormented baritone over a glorious wall-of-sound, telling tales of schoolyard fights (‘Go Square Go’), social workers (‘Geraldine’) and paternal neglect (‘Daddy’s Gone’). Mainstream appeal abandoned them in surprisingly swift fashion.