For most bands, recording on an analog eight-track is the base from which they work. From there, they go to eight-track…although some go the whole hog and jump straight to 24-track. Fuck, Metallica’s last record was recorded on near 200 channels. Others beside go digital. Not so for the Holy Soul.

Instead, their debut album Sign of the Triangle they’ve recorded in a bee-keeping shed with Jon Hunter on a vintage reel-to-reel in a clear attempt to keep the mood raw and sweaty, just like their live show. In some ways it does – opener “Dead Town” is a tough bluesy number, while “Funeral Plots” swaggers with all their live prowess.

But, of course, a song like “Mainline” sounds so much clearer on Sign of the Triangle. It becomes a fully rendered lament, complete with some excellent lapsteel guitar work from Tim Malfroy and a plaintive harmonica solo from frontman Trent Marsden. Elsewhere, Marsden’s baritone is rich, and on the hilarious “Mary’s Tainted Lemonade” it drawls and carries on in a wonderful manner.

But the Holy Soul are at their best on their debut album when they’re either upping the tempo with some hooky songs – the aforementioned “Funeral Plots”, the title cut, and “Cheer Up, Charlie” – or alternatively stripping it back and keeping it simple (stupid), as best exemplified on “Mainline”, and the similarly open “Never Trust a Friend”.