Album: Kassidy, Hope St. (Vertigo)

Scottish acoustic strummers Kassidy come across like a sort of McMumford & Sons on this debut album, their four-part harmonies and massed guitars rolling along with engaging verve on tracks like opener "Stray Cat", a swaggering folk-stomp subtly underpinned by funky organ.

Their problem is a lack of originality: they never suggest they'll find a new angle on well-worn roots-rock modes, opting instead for runky-tink barroom piano on "I Don't Know" and "Oh My God", while "That Old Song" is a faux-cowboy canter, complete with whistling and wistful chimes. Likewise, their lyrics stick solidly to themes of love and loss and movin' on, those usual suspects of the bohemian troubadour's songbook, without uncovering much new ground beyond the puzzling claim that "when a secret tells a lie it burns a hole into your mind".

DOWNLOAD THIS Stray Cat; The Lost; I Don't Know