OOPS, there is some catching up to do with this Rhode Island trio.

The Low Anthem issued their American-only self-titled debut in November 2007, and Oh My God followed last June, so apologies for tardiness in highlighting their multi-instrumental travels through lush falsetto folk rock a la Fleet Foxes and growling garage blues seasoned in Tom Waits vinegar.

Only the startling Wild Beasts, from Leeds via the Lakes, rival them for such vocal divergence, but there the similarities end. The Low Anthem are rooted in gothic Americana and timeless American themes of life on the periphery, living in woodland cabins and fuelled on bourbon.

They crave harmony and peace but this wish is as fragile as their best slow, contemplative hymnal songs, broken at intervals by brutal blues that unnerve you like a horror movie’s turn for the worse.