Q And Not U

Q And Not U, DC's funkiest punks, wanna party, and who are you or I to stop them? Heck, they've travelled here to us, not us to them, so why not give them their 30 minutes to strut, twitch, and slide across the teeny Underworld stage? In fact, why not give them an hour?

Actually, screw that - let's break things up a little and give Bullet Union their crack at making our butts move sans cranial control. Remarkably for a band that are 50 per cent ex-Dead Inside, they manage it perfectly. Sure, you can still throw your body into the guy next to you in most mosh-tastic fashion, but boy, do these guys have tunes to boot. If they let themselves crawl out of the underground they'll be 2005's cover stars.

Q And Not U should already be cover stars - they've the moves and tunes to eclipse a skipload of punk-funkers (sorry, the certified 'NME-approved' classification sticks) with the lifespan of a mayfly, yet who still manage to creep in on their cred'. Their new record is - to paraphrase a good friend of mine - gay disco, and tonight's performance does suggest that the trio have gone down a more dance-focused route, the difficult, stuttering sounds of their last release, 'Different Damage', resigned to history. It's a brave move, and one that will only be proved successful or shite in the longterm. However, for one night only, Q And Not U own us. Wholly. They had their party, brought their own cake and scoffed it.