The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir: s/t

Label: Bloodshot

Offering catchy, edgy, folksy, and a wee melancholic pop, The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir debuts on the Bloodshot label with nine numbers befitting the recent colder temperatures. Like Belle & Sebastian, theirs is music for a brisk overcast autumn day. But The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir is much darker, prefering to write about the unpleasant and more realistic experiences of life. These are Stuart Murdoch’s grittier stateside cousins. (Actually hailing from the Windy City, they have neither affiliations to law-enforcing units overseas nor ties to religious organizations.) Lyrics recalling the putrid smells of hospitals, the discovery of one’s proclivity for members of the same sex, and of course, death, are sung with nonchalance. But however cynical their songwriting comes across, all the tracks on these Chicagoan’s self-titled release are largely and undeniably upbeat. This is pop as it should be: a dark but feel-good experience ideal for fall. (Carrie)