Lost Map Records (2016), available online

If you haven’t heard of Glasgow fuzz-pop duo Tuff Love, then you’re going to wish you had listened to them a lot earlier when you hear Resort. It’s a compilation of the duo’s three EPs; although, unlike their titles suggest, the music is anything but Junk, Dross or Dregs. With the knowledge that the tracks are ordered chronologically on Resort, the compilation becomes a narrative of the band’s progression since Junk’s release in 2014. On Resort, we hear the sound of a band who are becoming increasingly confident while perfecting their craft.

Tuff Love’s simplicity is their greatest strength in many ways; their sweet vocal harmonies and fuzzy guitars have given them a signature sound which sits somewhere between shoegaze and grunge, while they also possess the ability to knock up some great catchy pop choruses. More than anything, Resort’s breezy, no-cares attitude makes you yearn for summer in dreary January. At first it seems too lightweight to make a real impact but before you know it, its infectious pop hooks and dreamy melodies are whirling around in your head for hours after a couple of listens.

Sweet Discontent is the perfect opener; it eases the listener in gently with some brushes on the guitar, before those delicate harmonies sweep in and build up to a rocky chorus. The first section of the LP, featuring songs from Junk, possesses a kind of upbeat innocence which draws you in, particularly in the jagged riffs of Poncho and the beautifully laid-back melancholia of reverb-soaked Penguin.

The early material shows a lot of promise, but the latter songs on the compilation show what the duo can achieve with greater levels of production. The lo-fi sound quality of Junk is replaced with clearer definition on third EP Dregs, and this is obvious as soon as you arrive at Duke. There is an immediacy about the song, so brilliantly dishevelled and unpredictable in nature, which suggests greater confidence in what they’re doing. The songs become more textured than before with greater consideration for other influences, as seen in the unexpected appearance of an organ at the end of Crocodile before it dramatically cuts out.

The upbeat innocence of earlier songs is replaced by weightier material with darker undertones such as Threads and Amphibians. However, the duo are capable of cleverly juxtaposing the emotional melancholy of their lyrics with a sunny vocal delivery. For example, Threads has some Smiths-like guitar work topped with some angelic harmonies, offering one of the catchiest choruses on the LP. However, behind its summery pop sound lies lyrical darkness: ‘I wasted all my youth on you’.

Carbon is the perfect way to end this compilation as it is easily Tuff Love’s most impressive song to date. It exemplifies everything that makes the duo so great: a lumbering bass, some jangly guitars with deft riff-work and more mesmerising vocals. The lyrics are given greater articulation, as if Julie Eistenstein and Suse Bear are telling a story, before the extended melancholic breeziness of the outro completely immerses the listener.

If Resort is a snapshot of what Tuff Love are able to achieve in a couple of years, then the future is looking pretty good for this band.