Tom Hughes 

Trashcan Sinatras: In the Music

The new-penny shine and FM ­classicism of the songwriting here rather negate the presence of any great surprises, says Tom Hughes
  
  


Twenty years into their existence, these Scottish guitar-pop gents get around to album number five – a work rate that chimes nicely with their resolutely sedate musical charm. The album opener, People, ­confirms their station somewhere ­between Teenage Fanclub and Crowded House: gentle, grown-up popcraft that reveals more detail and deftness with each listen, and remains utterly ­unbeholden to fleeting fashion. The new-penny shine and FM ­classicism of the songwriting here rather negate the presence of any great surprises, but the exquisite sequence of hooks and musical sweeteners in ­Morning Star are equal to anything REM have written in a long time. In the Music is the sort of record that might give the middle of the road a good name.

 

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