With an accompanying press release likening Nascent to the likes of Alfie and Badly Drawn Boy, there's little in the way of surprises to be found on this debut offering from Scottish one-man folk outfit Mammoeth. Lilting, ambling and likeable it might be, but ultimately a tendency towards the frustratingly twee means that this is a fairly superfluous addition to the burgeoning Scottish folk scene.

Awash with harmonies and delicately-plucked acoustics, there are very few faults to pick out here, as such, but the real problem is that it's all so painfully unobjectionable that there's nothing to really seize your attention either. That said, the National-esque understated horn section that underpins 'Trigonometry' hits at a sense of subtlety and nuance that – although disappointingly absent for much of this – could well pay dividends if Mammoeth explores it in a little more detail next time out.

Ultimately, there's few outright, substantial criticisms to be made here, but there's a stifling mediocrity that prevails here, and it's on this score that Nascent really misses the target.

Rating: 2/5 by Mitch Bain

Tracklisting

1. LapDog
2. Wendy House
3. Latin Scribe
4. Photos of the Staff
5. Trigonometry
6. I Want To Be Someone When I Die
7. This City Life
8. Scramble Eggs
9. Kid With A Toy
10. By Far The Hardest Part
11. Writing On The Walls

Further links

Mammoeth on Myspace

MySpace page for oddly-titled Scottish folkster Mammoeth.