Aidan Moffat & The Best-Ofs - How To Get to Heaven From Scotland (Chemikal Underground)
4/5
By: Matt Tomiak
We're presented with a sparsely austere Highland coastal scene on the sleeve of How To Get To Heaven From Scotland but ex-Arab Strap curmudgeon Aidan Moffat and his disparate backing band The Best Ofs have fashioned a charming, warm-hearted folk-rock record, with the gruff Glaswegian's perceptive yet emotionally reticent song writing persona yielding rich dividends.
Combining the personal and polemical with the homespun finesse of the great Billy Bragg, here we find wearily sardonic, scalpel-sharp explorations of contemporary gender mores ('Oh Men!') and religion ('Atheist's Lament') alongside the chiming long-distance romantic travails detailed in 'Ballad of the Unsent Letter' and joyous closing-time bellow-along 'The Last Kiss'.
"I can't promise you'll be happy, but I promise you my best" vows Aidan on the beatific 'Lullaby for Unborn Child', staring domestic tranquillity square in the face and sounding, at last, pretty darn contented after all these years.
Artists in this article: Aidan Moffat & The Best-Ofs
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