Democracy seems to suit Glasgow band Pronto Mama.

The local lads have just released their cracking debut album Any Joy, and will bring it to the Art School for a homecoming gig on May 26.

Singer and keyboardist Ciaran McEneny points to how the band are willing to take on new ideas as part of why they’re successful – as long as whoever’s pitching the idea can back it up.

“Marc or I usually start with an idea and then take them to the rest of the band,” says Ciaran, who is from the East End.

“Everyone moulds it from there. Sometimes we’re too democratic! I think that means it takes us a bit longer than other bands but it’s a good thing that we’re perfectionists, because we will make someone in the band argue their point to the death until we finally accept it.

“There’s never a case of someone going ‘oh, I’ll let you win and put it in the song’, it has to be proven to us why it should be there.”

That might be why it took the band five years from forming to making an album (a couple of EP’s were released in the meantime). It’s a good thing they took their time though, because Any Joy is an excellent modern pop record.

It switches easily through several styles (Ciaran dubs it “schizophrenic”), from the upbeat brass-flavoured likes of recent single Arabesque to Sentiment’s four part harmonies and the more brooding Bottom Feeder, yet it hangs together as a coherent body.

The six-piece, who are made up of Ciaran, singer/guitarist Marc Rooney, bassist Michael Griffen, trumpet player Alex Sharples, trombonist Craig McMahon and drummer Martin Johnston, went for an unusual choice of recording location, too.

“We pulled in all the favours we could and went to a cottage near Aberdeen,” says Ciaran.

“It was a location where we could get a wee bit longer (to work on things) and it was a cool way to do it. I think cabin fever set in after about three days though. It was pretty intense, and not just because if anyone wanted a cup of tea we had to stop recording and wait until the kettle had settled down again.

“We’re really good pals though, so we’d hate each other for a wee bit and then be friends again. We were there for a week and went to another cottage at Loch Fyne, which was more of a conventional space for recording, and that was good as well.”

Although the band took themselves off to Aberdeen, there is no doubt they are a group rooted in Glasgow, which is why playing the Art School in just over a fortnight holds such appeal.

“We just write about where we stay and what we know,” adds the singer.

“Glasgow is where we are from and we are intrinsically Glaswegian, so it makes sense. I think the Art School is the biggest headline show we have ever done. We want it to be full and bouncing.”

The band’s fans have already given them a big boost already, though. It was their support, through a PledgeMusic initiative, that saw the group earn enough funding to go ahead with the full album. The record was then released through Electric Honey, the label run by Glasgow students.

“I think we had got about 25% of our target in the first day,” he adds.

“We were like ‘this is pretty crazy’ but it’s a good way to do it. Everyone gets involved and it’s people who want to hear you make new music…

“The days of a label giving you a million quid to make an album are gone, so you’ve got to use things like this and take every opportunity you get to make the music you want.”

Pronto Mama, Art School, May 26, £10, 7pm. Any Joy is available through www.prontomama.com

JONATHAN GEDDES