Right from the off, the “Scottish Beach Boys” tag applied to Mitchell Museum starts to make sense on The Peters Port Memorial Service, with the sunny harmonies and smooth swing of ‘We Won 2nd Prize’ helping to back up a statement that could very easily have been written off as over-excited hyperbole. The rest of the group’s debut album doesn’t quite stick to this, or any particular blueprint, though some of these key elements permeate its 13 tracks – again, namely the Glaswegians’ flawless, sugary harmonies as well as its many vibrant synth/organ hooks. Any fans of the consistent onslaught of American Indie exports will no doubt hear some familiar sounds and habits, though theirs is a sound seeming to look a bit further back and plucks more from the likes of The Flaming Lips and that perpetual touchstone, Pavement – though MM’s casual sloppiness comes in much smaller doses.

Second track, ‘Warning Bells’ is perfectly balanced on a chilled, yet fairly danceable beat, and in between its warm guitar melodies, it boasts some immediately repeatable lines, most notably the cheerily delivered: “I’ve been lying on the floor since Thursday night”; ‘Room For Improvement’ hurriedly waltzes through a barrage of squelching synths and hyperactive vocal lines; whereas ‘Take The Tongue Out’ could quite easily trump anything from the relatively thin Vampire Weekend back catalogue on account of it being considerably less skeletal in its structure and instrumentation and arguably much more colourful.

Now this is a mere cross section of what the album has to offer, and though it remains to be seen, even a rather brief analysis could bring together enough evidence to support any claims that Mitchell Museum could “go all the way” or “make it”. For one, it sounds as cohesive yet unpredictable as you could hope for a debut record. Though it seems to take great influence from many of the bands’ musical cousins from overseas, particularly vocally, The Peters Port Memorial Service is a consistently vibrant and above all, entertaining listen. Good stuff.