One Debauched Night + An Overload of Inspiration = Reindeer Section's Ya'll Get Scared Now Ya Hear?

What happens when a group of musicians gets drunk together? If you live in Glasgow, play the guitar and hang with the likes of Belle and Sebastian, Mogwai, Arab Strap and Snow Patrol, then one debauched night can apparently equal an overload of inspiration. Masterminded by Snow Patrol's Gary Lightbody, the Reindeer Section is a supergroup of sorts (consisting of various members culled from the above acts) and formed as the pleasant result of one such fortuitous evening. After a bout of guzzling fine Scottish brews and philosophizing about the state of music with his fellow indie rock brethren, Lightbody woke up and wrote the entirety of this debut album in one jam-packed day. Less than two weeks in the studio, a few more rounds of booze and a band was born.

The beautiful thing about the album is that the haste in which it was created has enhanced, rather than detracted from, its solidity. It's as if any hesitation would have allowed the magic of that one beautifully woozy night to fade in the sobering light of dawn. Perhaps the most misleading record title ever, Ya'll Get Scared is as far from frightening as one can get. Throw aside any expectations of spooky goth rock or foreboding industrial?this is a world of pleasantly pretty ballads and infectious pop numbers that recall Beck's Mutations.

The album kicks off with a tidily constructed acoustic love song, "Will You Please Be There for Me?" that sets the album's tone: vaguely melancholic, slightly introspective and undeniably sweet-tempered. There are a few raucous numbers (such as the back-to-back chorus distortion on "Raindrop" and "Sting" or the near metal thrusts of "Tout Le Monde"), but for the most part the album steers a steady, sensitive and soulful course. The breathy, heartfelt vocals that thread throughout the disc create a satisfying atmosphere of longing, but Lightbody's plaintive lyrics keep it afloat. "Be my hope I'll be your hope," he sings on "If Everything Fell Quiet." It's as if all the yearnings and desires of that original one drunken evening were crammed into each of the album's tracks. Apparently Lightbody felt something that night, something stronger than the Scotch ales, something he needed to scribble down in the midst of sour mouth and throbbing head. The result is an album that reflects the good-natured camaraderie between talented friends. Together they have managed to translate one night, a little booze and some good company into music that's as simple as it is beautiful.