Van Susans - Paused in the moment.

Pop music has for many become a bit of a dirty word.

Once it's slipped into a conversation many music fans turn a deaf ear to anything else that is being said, and to a degree I can understand that.

The literal interpretation of pop is that it is short for popular, and pretty much what is popular just now isn't up to much.

Chart music has become the equivalent of a fast food meal.

Packaged on a conveyor belt and thrust at us with a price tag on it.

It's not supposed to be appreciated and very little love and attention has been put into making it.

Instead it's there as a soundbite, background noise that is to be grabbed, consumed and then discarded for the next version of the weeks meal deal.

Thankfully Van Susans are here to accept the challenge and fight the corner for pop.

Drag it back into the field of critical acclaim.

With some care and attention they have managed to craft an albums worth of material that has a great deal of depth and passion to it while simultaneously layering it with pop sensibilities.

Having a backbone of indie folk to the sound very obviously helps in allowing the music to embrace the listener, but there's more to it than that.

A little something extra that manages to elevate the material to the level that it doesn't just float by, but instead takes root in your head and hangs around until it gets a reaction.

This is as far removed from disposable pop music as you could imagine.

Each time I let friends listen to the material on the album they have all been quick to offer opinions as to who they sound like, but very often no two suggestions are the same, and that says a great deal about how much ground the band cover.

My introduction to the band was rather serendipitous.

They had contacted a venue in Glasgow looking to arrange a date to play, but as the venue don't directly book acts they passed the name on to me, and after a few clicks online and allowing what is there to soak in I bought the album, then the previous debut ep, and finally contacted them and said that I would be happy to cover a Glasgow date in Pivo, with this then leading onto another in Su Casa in Ayr.

Since then there's been a few eyebrows raised as Van Susans are a band that others are surprised that I would be promoting, but my opinion is that quality is all that matters and not genres, and with this being the case I am more than happy to be involved in bringing them to Glasgow.

I hope after you lend an ear to the album that you are just as happy to.

The album can of course be purchased from Bandcamp, and if you click on the image of the poster on the right (In the list of gigs) then that will take you directly to Tickets Scotland.

Album available here.