Duels

The Barfly is very busy at an early hour tonight; whether this is an indication of the popularity of the ever-tasteful Rockfeedback nights, we couldn't say - this is our first one at Camden's most ubiquitous venue. Possibly it's eager ears here to check out Jeremy Warmsley. One man and his guitar is becoming a rarefied commodity these days, with even the staunchest of troubadours opting for electronics or drums. The nakedness of Warmsley's performance is disarming indeed, yet gives us an insight into his engrossing lo-fi recordings - stripped down as they are to the simplest of songs today. A young man who needs to look less uncomfortable on stage perhaps, but definitely a musician of some notable talent.

Swishing onto the stage immediately after are The Pipettes. Shorn of a member in their short career, but already with someone new to step in their shoes, The Pipettes are looking steely eyed and full of purpose. That is, until they miss a note and it all drops into a fit of giggles. Which is possibly the second best element to the six piece (including backing trio The Cassettes) - the first obviously being their wonderful doo-wop paeans to modern, messy teenage life - a sense of fun that doesn't slip into the aren't-we-silly, but holds itself nicely in check in that slightly arched-eyebrow way. There's already a fanbase who look up adoringly onstage and as the harmonies infiltrate towards the back of the packed room, it seems that fanbase can only grow.

Duels** gather the biggest crowd of the night, however, it's probably the smallest one they've played to in a while, having just finished their tour with fellow Yorkshiremen The Kaiser Chiefs. Still, you'd have trouble shoehorning anymore people into the venue, nor eliciting anymore enthusiasm. I predict a riot indeed. Are we already on the second-and-a-half wave of post-brit-wave-pop? Possibly so, if you disingenuously mark Duels somewhere between the visceral pop thrills of the Kaisers and the fretful art-isms of Maximo Park. What would probably be a bit cleverer to note is how Duels seem to be a succinct summation of the past forty years of UK pop, ranging from Bowie to the Beatles to indeed, the current crop of wannabes. It's easily enough verse-chorus-verse magic to sate even the biggest tune junkie, and it might just be the next big thing.