Glasvegas: 'Geraldine'

Arriving on what can only be described as a tidal wave of hype, Glasvegas finally look like matching the critics' hyperbole with their first top 20 hit. 'Geraldine', a ferocious three-minute onslaught of Jesus And Mary Chain-style feedback, rumbling drums and angelic harmonies, is right up there with the best of '08.

Singer James Allan's Glaswegian brogue is the band's selling point, as he manages to capture bitterness and optimism in the same breath. The track's tale of a social worker who gives up her career to follow a band may be a little unusual, but it would take a cold-hearted soul not to be moved by Allan's final rallying cry: "I'll be the angel on your shoulder,
my name is Geraldine, I'm your social worker." Never has listening to a gloomy Scotsman felt quite so beautiful.