A Scottish hello: The Vegan Leather – Poor Girls / Broken Boys

The final track on The Vegan Leather’s debut album is called ‘Zeitgeist’ — but Poor Girls / Broken Boys is no trend-chasing scenester cash-in record. Unlike, say Two Door Cinema Club who traded in their polite indie-rock for just as polite watered-down Hot Chip on their new album, The Vegan Leather have set their stall out right away by hitting whip-sharp electronic indie-pop from all sorts of angles.

Lead single ‘French Exit’ had them channelling fellow Scottish compatriots Franz Ferdinand, with its punky disco stomp and arched eyebrow lyrics about blowing town on a party without saying goodbye. In fairness, it’s called an Irish goodbye round here.

Other pointers that gush vividly out of these songs are the skewed, wiry funk of 80s Talking Heads, the fist-up exuberance of Le Tigre and later era Goldfrapp, and on ‘Unorthodox’, straight-up sleazy glam that’s only half a degree away from Marilyn Manson.

With 10 of the 11 tracks here all around three-four minutes, they’re aiming for the pop bullseye, and the grabby choruses and synth hooks generally rush in after one verse. Come to think of it, ‘French Exit’ is just a three-minute chorus with a few well-chosen chants to nail it home further. Poor Girls / Broken Boys the sound of the summer festivals dropping in the middle of shitty October. Take these small pop mercies whenever you can get them.