PAWS – Youth Culture Forever

PAWS took the brave decision to handle production duties of Youth Culture Forever themselves, a bold move that other groups have lived to regret. But the Glasgow-based trio have pulled it off – their second album is a step up from playful debut Cokefloat!, taking them away from a reliance on the trusty quiet-loud-quiet dynamic.

In Phillip Taylor, PAWS have a songwriter with a knack for anthemic choruses and lyrics resplendent with fine deadpan humour ("Do you know how long it takes to get from Scotland to Dalston?" he asks on An Honest Romance, a tale of being stood-up in the capital).

These moments of levity are needed on a record that deals a lot with relationship breakdown. "Just 22 and I feel like I'm through," sings a weary Taylor on the attention-grabbing opener Erreur Humaine. His emotional honesty on Someone New never jars; not with a chorus that was made for mass crowd participation. Youth Culture Forever speaks a language that people of all ages can understand. [Chris McCall]