To outsiders, one of the best things about the Glasgow music scene is the fact that it appears to be a genuine scene and that all the bands and fans hang out in the same venues every night.

That’s certainly true for some acts and scene-sters but the true beauty of the Glasgow music scene is that there is an almost “anti-scene” scene (and please God don’t think that’s a rallying call to start one) with the bands that don’t quite fit in with the others. Sometimes these bands can pull together for a bit of moral support but the real quality in the great ones is that they plough their own field without needing to sound like their peers.

And if there was ever to be a dictionary entry for that type of band, there may well just be a picture of The State Broadcasters. The band has been quietly plugging away for the last couple of years and has finally released their debut album ‘The Ship and The Iceberg’.

At times quiet and heartbreaking, at others joyous and uplifting, the melody and comfort contained in this album is the over-riding emotion that the listener will take away. You won’t get too many up and coming bands setting up gigs in small venues with a trombone, clarsach and double bass on show and this variety and innovation has been captured well on the album. If you needed to put them in a box, the folkish harmonies displayed by the shared vocals of Graeme Black and Gill Fleetwood will delight and inspire comparisons to the new folk revival and the artists who inspired it originally but there are many different styles on show here and it’s the overall sweetness and ease that binds the album together.

After a few listens, the lyrics unfold into a series of tales about love and life probably not seen in a commercial sense since Squeeze and the band covers a fair range of influences and references across the record. ‘My Binoculars’ is probably the most jaunty of efforts and should act as a great introduction to the act but ‘Lets Make T-Shirts’ and ‘Tenderness of Wolves’ help to showcase the breadth of quality and song-writing on show here. They’ve easily been one of the best bands around in Glasgow over the past couple of years so hopefully this album will see The State Broadcasters sailing off into charted and popular waters.