Top 10 Albums of 2010: Shabby Rogue - By Hook And By Crook

Review of The Year

The Aurora Borealis is an awe-inspiring sight and it’s not a shock to learn a band would be motivated to write a song about it.

Opener Northern Lights, written and recorded in Wester Ross, begins with a sample of a 1950s novel read by Charlie Simpson that grows into a delivery over traditional bagpipes and then leaping into as powerful piece of folk-rock as you could wish for.

The album takes you from Ivor Cutler, through The Stooges, Velvet Underground and Dylan to a dose of moody surf-pop, all with that underlying folk twist.

Their work has ended up in its dark and sprawling state unintentionally. It has chaos and energy galore.