Misinformed Google users may believe Treacherous is the work of a UK based ‘children in need (of an adventure)’ charity. Over the Wall are actually a rather sincere act from Glasgow, who sit comfortably between experimental and quaint pop without tipping over into a bucket labelled ‘twee aftermath’.

Gav Prentice and Ben Hillman have been writing and recording their music since the heady indie-pop days of 2006. The aforementioned charity came into existence a full seven years preceding the band and to my knowledge have never released a record. Some might question why Over the Wall the band have allowed Over the Wall the charity to dominate Google’s first page thus far. I don’t have an answer to that, but I can tell you that if their debut Treacherous is capable of anything, it’s capable of changing Google’s order of priority. This is better than any adventure playground.

The album draws an inevitable comparison to fellow Scotsmen Arab Strap, while flaunting an admiration for classic British pop stars like Elton John and David Bowie. There’s also a surprising homage to U.S. supernova Bruce Springsteen on ‘Stages’ and Surrey rockers The Stranglers on ‘Always the Sun’. Such an array of comparisons could spell for an unappetising foray into mediocrity, but Over the Wall add their own charms to Treacherous, and in doing so salvage a decent record from the concoction. It’s more of a pop culture extravaganza than a pitiful amalgamation.

From beginning to end the album plays like a modern classic. It has enough erratic enthusiasm to stand proudly amongst commercial giants of the day, while retaining enough gushing authenticity to keep its toes safely in the underground scene. ‘Istanbul’ falls into a pit of gritty garage exercised by countless before, but few have the energy necessary to sweep the chords into such an exhilarating and breathless chorus; ‘Thurso’ plays on a vulnerability documented by many-a Saddle Creek signee without sounding overtly depressing.

An ability to take the best of fifty years of music and regurgitate a mass of wholly new material is not all Over the Wall have up their sleeves; they’re also incredible wordsmiths. By far the best track on offer, ‘Two Nightmares’ parades the killer-lines of, “Hello Ben, I have decided to text you. Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap!” and, “Bacon chips are basically a strip of bacon on top of some chips.” Few bands can make such a simple narrative so hilariously interesting.

There are however a few songs on Treacherous that take their due too far: ‘Angela’ mimics the howling goodness of Frightened Rabbit so closely an untrained ear might assume Scott Hutchinson is making an unexpected appearance. Over the Wall’s demos completely avoid this copy-cat behaviour, which leads me to believe my bully is with the production and not so much the band’s ability to coin novel material.

Over the Wall’s website proudly declares their debut is better than a “Star Trek TNG box set”. Comparing their debut to the revival series of Star Trek doesn’t do the record justice enough; this is more 1960’s vintage than any of that Jean-Luc Picard rubbish.