Twin Atlantic - GLA

FANS of Twin Atlantic's earlier work will know the band for their big sound, inventive songs and angular Biffy Clyro-esque riffs, all performed with a bit of Glaswegian swagger and menace.

But the alternative rock quartet's latest album GLA, a tribute to their home city, seems to throw that out in a bid to be embraced by the mainstream.

This may be Twin Atlantic's most accessible collection of songs but it comes at the expense of everything they were building up to before – strange, considering their star was rising anyway.

Ditching their alternative rock formula, GLA is probably best described as a set of pop songs delivered with ferocity.

What is admirable is the intensity of the album, the conviction that comes through in singer Sam McTrusty's voice and the way each track builds to a crescendo.

But it does not quite gel – it feels like a watered-down version of their great previous albums like Free and Great Divide.

Single, No Sleep, for example, has a great opening hook but then plods along turning into a by-the-numbers rock song.

Stranger still is Ex El, an experimental track where McTrusty seems to shout random words into the mic for the first part. It gets better as it goes along but it is just a bit weird.

The band seem to find themselves again towards the end of the record though. Missing Link has great rhythm and flow to it and The Chaser is hugely catchy with great riffs.

There are some odd choices with the production too. You cannot fault the talent on board – Jacknife Lee, who has worked with U2 and Snow Patrol and Alan Moulder, producer for Arctic Monkeys, Foals and Foo Fighters.

But McTrusty's voice sounds distant and distorted at times.

This is no doubt intentional – perhaps to give the record its own sound and identity – but I already miss the old Twin Atlantic who were not as grandiose.

DAVID MORGAN