Glasgow’s innate swagger is not always reflected in the music produced across the city. Twenty years on from first impact, Franz Ferdinand can still get away with a comeback single called ‘Audacious’ but Conscious Pilot might just be poised to grab their mantle with a second EP bursting with character and characters. This ballsy quintet (comprising ex-members of Cheap Teeth, Catholic Action and Big Girl’s Blouse) produce strutting form and have been happy to lay the groundwork over the past year with a chunky pop at ‘Modern Religion’ and the expat lament of ‘Benidorm’. 

Their latest six-track EP has been produced by newish band recruit Chris McCrory, a musician with considerable skills who captures the gonzo momentum of opening track ‘God’s Hot Car’. In this Fall-like cautionary tale, frontman Joe Laycock rides the lop-sided rhythm to imagine the group as ‘just a couple little dogs in god’s hot car’. The punky flourishes continue with Hives-like heatseeking momentum of ‘Filth Night’, while the Evel Knievel bone crunch of ‘Roman Architecture’ revs up to a taut clip before pulling up and digging in. ‘Me & Marcel’ is demonstrative and brawny with a blistering riffing climax: its ‘conquistador’ hookline seems destined to raise some basement venue rafters.

‘Snake In My Boots’ is a brooding baritone croon, equal parts swagger and whimsy with an unexpected Scotsoul coda of cooing backing vocals and plangent fuzz guitar, while the David Hockney-referencing ‘Paint It Slowly’ ends on an uplifting, anthemic indie pop note.

Conscious Pilot: Wipe Clean is released by Devil Duck on Friday 18 October.