Charles Hayward

Trencher seem to make the perfect horror film soundtrack. Your oldschool flicks, your Hammer House of Horrors, would be scored in creepy gothic organ tones; nowadays, what with the cynical synergy that the entertainment biz is built on, you get crunchy metaaaaaaal. Trencher combine almost camply gothic church organ sounds with multi-time-signatured drums and distorto bass. They rock very hard.

The surprise card on the night's bill is a solo show from This Heat's Charles Hayward - a middle aged fella making one of the finest, most danceable and exhilarating one-man-bands conceivable. He plays beautifully fluid drums, controlling bass synth with one foot and his drum hits triggering changes in his ambient backing track. It's a dazzling musicianship and imagination, topped with oddly cracked vocals.

Ask anyone what they know about Hella and if they know them at all, then chances are that one of two things will come up first; 1) that Zach Hill is one of the most awe-inspiring drummers ever, or 2) that they're a duo. WRONG. Tonight, fresh from ATP, they double in number, adding a keyboardist/vocalist/guitarist and bassist to the core guitar/drum dynamic. First thoughts veer towards some kind of unholy Dream Theater wankfest. Hella have spent a good few years showing how unnecessary a full band lineup is, filling up so much sonic space with their limited numbers that you wonder where they'll cram in the extra instruments. The drumming remains a focus; while I've never seen the appeal of watching sports, there has to be some connection between watching Hill in full flight and some dude running in a line. It's just so intensely physical, yet unfathomably engrossing.

The set reveals itself as a combustion of wonderment, samples flying every which way, the structured mania infectious. I feel like an asshole for ever doubting them. This is the spazzrock equivalent of Dylan going electric. Where once they were an arty oddity, a fantastic exercise in restraint, here it feels like they could stand toe to toe with any rock band on the planet. Cedric Bixler and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez stand at the back, suitably impressed.