Vex Red

Tonight, London's ULU is graced with three British bands all set to make a dent in the music world. First up, The Pattern. Sounding like a dodgy 60's style, NME lovin' indie band, they do have potential in their Iggy-like stature, but fail to bring originality to the forefront. Knowing the aforementioned music press, there will be hype around this band. What a shame.

Next, Crackout, and definitely the band of the night. Repeating a popular pop/punk style with tunes like 142, Doesn't Matter Now and Your Dumb F*ck, Crackout do good. Fast riffs, catchy hooks and a fun, upbeat punky feel that gets you going. Yes, it has been done before, but it's still good.

So onto headliners Vex Red. Their recent single Itch is undoubtably the highlight of the set. And the lowlight? The rest of it. With a set covered in a swarth of instruments and effects, you see yourself getting bored with their intent on showing off how good they can use their equipment. Losing attention throughout the show, you have to wonder why this Tool-cloned-with-hints-of-nu-metal band are getting so much attention. This clearly wasn't visible here tonight.