The Little Kicks

In some ways, the crisp pop/soul blend served up by The Little Kicks links them with such ‘80s Scottish combos as Orange Juice and Aztec Camera. But the Aberdeen-based quartet offers more than chiming riffs backed by thumping rhythms. The Little Kicks match their affable sound with a melancholy lyric sensibility embodied in Steven Milne’s pining tenor vocals. Tracks like “Call of Youth” and “Making Big Decisions” wrap buoyant arrangements around a bittersweet core, while “The First Place” uses a simple but haunting horn line to bring out its sense of longing. The album moves from the spiky Franz Ferdinand–like groove of “Anti Work Song” to the easy soulful glide of “Do Something New” without strain. Milne’s ‘70s-style electric piano and Toby Brunning’s succinct, spot-on guitar work lend these songs a clean, incisive thrust. Things conclude on a dark note with “Far Too Honest,” a brooding track defined by churchly organ and echo-drenched vocals. For all the surface catchiness of their songs, these four lads are out to make more than pretty pop music.