Sister Sneaker Sister Soul
Listen, you're gonna get over it, and then it'll all seem pretty silly. In the moment, though, unrequited love looms large. The debut single by Glasgow five-piece My Latest Novel-- whose album will be out via The Worker's Institute on Oct. 31-- explores overwrought emotional vastness like the sensitive acoustic types they are: with two-tone quiet/loud dynamics and lots of strings. Nope, they're not the Goo Goo Dolls. Singer Chris Deveney's restraint keeps six-minute "Sister Sneaker Sister Soul" closer to the anthemic vulnerability of fellow Glaswegians Snow Patrol or Arab Strap. He's not saying much new ("I only know her first name," Deveney sings over folkie arpeggios), but the campfire choir of ba-ba-bas behind him make the old story worth hearing again. Crashing guitars and billowy violins neatly simulate the hugeness of adolescent devotion. Hard to explain old crushes, but it's nice to feel the butterflies.