Bread and Jam

If your taste leans toward finely cra.ed, casually philosophical, quirkily upbeat acoustic roots music with a dash of global funk, Bread and Jam, the debut by La-Llamas, is your cup of espresso. La-Llamas are Davy Cattanach (Old Blind Dogs, Pictones, Catford) and Paddy Buchanan (Marionettes, Jigs Akimbo, Himself), two lads from Aberdeenshire who play guitar, banjo, double bass, organ and various percussion instruments, as well as sing lovely harmonies.

Lending backing vocals to Bread and Jam are Mhairi Sinclair and Lindsay McCrone on ‘Gabriel’ and Jenny Sturgeon on ‘Do You Need Jesus?’ It may be only coincidental, but those two cuts represent the album's fi nest moments, the former smoothly propelled by a soulful, hot-buttered groove, the latter derived from the deep well of traditional southern (US) gospel. Worthy track mentions include ‘Been Away Some Time’, with its laidback, country blues feel, and ‘Media Schmedia’, which packs a satirical, loony tunes punch.