No.12. glasvegas - glasvegas
At times Glasvegas teeters precipitously towards the ham-fisted. The original rockabilly arrangement for “Stabbed” is abandoned in favor of a nearly ludicrous spoken word piece backed by Beethoven’s “Moonlight” Sonata. “Ice Cream Van” takes heavy-handedness to a new level ("Bring back the glory days / Active citizenship and pure community"), but the album never wavers, even though that tightrope walk is sometimes far from graceful. While a band like the Raveonettes takes a considerably more nuanced and savvy approach to a similar formula, on this record, James Allan’s blunt, sensitive tough-guy act manages to pack an emotional wallop that will catch many folks off-guard. The album’s a bit of a fluke, no question, but it’s also an absolute gem.