Le Reno Amps So For Your Thrills...

Don't led the name mislead you; Le Reno Amps aren't nearly as pretentious as you might expect. 'Le Reno Amp' is simply, mundanely even, an anagram of the founder members' surnames (Nero and Maple for the curious). I presume the 's' was added for extra spice. I've heard of fledgling bands scouring dictionaries, utilising Countdown conundrums and playing with combinations of Scrabble letters, but anagrams are a new one for me. In fact, when did the word "anagram" last turn up in a record review anyway? Answers to the usual address, please...

Le Reno Amps began life in the highlands before relocating to Glasgow, where their brand of upbeat, country-tinged indie presumably stands out a little due to its generally cheerful nature. Arab Strap this is not.

According to guitarist/vocalist Scott Maple, Le Reno Amps' humble objective is to "try to write songs with all the fat cut off so you can savour their buttery goodness" and on a couple of occasions here they manage to achieve this. Recent single Wound Up is perhaps the best example here. An infectious power-pop anthem about a doomed relationship, it evokes the best work of US indie acts like They Might Be Giants and remains Le Reno Amps' finest moment to date. Other highlights include the contemplative opener Dawn Says and the excellent Beautiful (My Time Has Come), which features some great three-part harmonies and is musically reminiscent of Ben Kweller and The Thrills.

There are some less memorable tracks, though, and for some inexplicable reason these have been recruited for the album's unlikely - and ultimately unsuccessful - centrepiece; Gathering Ash and Tree House are pleasant yet pedestrian, where as Holly Wouldn't Have Me is just plain annoying. Things pick up afterwards with Deserted Sons and the triumphant How You Did Me Wrong standing out, but ten minutes is a long time for a lull on any album.

These sequencing flaws do harm So For You Thrills and listening to the record in one sitting is a frustrating experience, with all the good material separated by a considerable chunk of filler. Remove this (what did you think playlists were for?) and you'll find yourself with around half a dozen quality songs that really are worth coming back to. Not a classic by any stretch of the imagination, but the signs of promise are here for all to see.