The Amazing Snakeheads – Amphetamine Ballads

To call ‘Amphetamine Ballads’, the debut album from Glasgow trio The Amazing Snakeheads, grubby, is a bit like suggesting that Vladimir Putin is “a bit bossy”, or stating Usain Bolt is ‘quite good’ at running. This record is so dark, so seedy, so grotty basement-fuelled, it’s possible to smell, feel and touch damp while it plays.

From the gong that summons opener ‘I’m A Vampire’, to the Spanish style guitar permeating closer ‘Tiger By The Tail’, it’s unadulterated gloom – an album set in the darkest, seediest of alleyways. When vocalist Dale Barclay sings “she’s more beautiful than any woman I’ve met and she fucking knows it” in his thickest of thick Scots brogues upon a brooding bassline, it’s almost less like praise, and more a threat. ‘Where Is My Knife?’ sounds every bit as menacing as the title suggests.

It owes much to 50s rock ‘n roll – only garagey single ‘Here It Comes Again’ strays noticeably away from their eerie interpretation of the sound. There’s the cleverly affected vocals of ‘Nighttime’, the basement blues of ‘Flatlining’ and the recurring howling, ghostly backing vocals to name but three. It’s a sound that matches Barclay’s voice – whether shrieking, roaring, or a barely-there whisper – perfectly.

Sure, it loses its way about two-thirds through via the meandering ‘Every Guy Wants To Be Her Baby’ and ‘Memories’, but there’s always the suggestion that it’s sort of the point, as its nicotine-stained blues rock sways with the same amount of menace as Dale Barclay’s thousand-yard stare.