Mower

Only two gigs into their career, openers Amityville manage to turn in a truly incendiary performance tonight. Frontman Andrew Montgomery is riveting to watch, taking on the air of a man possessed and singing as if his life depended on it. The band has real chemistry too, adding much needed zest to hits-in-waiting like ‘Hold On’ and ‘All You Ever Wanted’. Surely a record deal is just round the corner for a talent already so fully formed? Whatever the future holds, make sure you catch these guys early… they’re destined for great things.

Silvertongue deal in spirited Britrock-noise in the vein of Serafin, strapped deftly to the anthemic might of U2*. They’re certainly not short on promise, but set-closer _‘Tranquilliser’_ sounds a little too much like *King Adora for my tastes. Hmmm…

Much more fun are ace Sarff Londoners The Capes, whose Elephant 6-influenced, harmony-drenched rock racket is hugely enjoyable. With singer Kris Barrett coming off like a ‘Bandwagonesque’-era Norman Blake and the rest of the band alternating between Grandaddy and Weezer chic, they’re somewhat of an enigma. But don’t be confused by their appearance, they’ve got tunes aplenty and no qualms about using ‘em.

Headliners Mower are, as always, a pleasure to behold. Their lively tongue-in-cheek indie/pop/punk hybrid is a colourful contrast to the grating seriousness of the garage rock-dominated scene. Chart material they may not be, but that doesn’t seem to bother the crowd, who spiritedly yell along to their set with real gusto.

Frontman Matthew Motte’s delightful stage persona is their biggest draw. Witnessing an awkward indie kid faultlessly rapping through a Beastie Boys number is a rare pleasure in itself, but add to that a side-serving of classic guitar shapes and some good old-fashioned stop-start rhythms and you’ve got a peculiar, but mightily tasty recipe. Maybe there's hope for Graham Coxon yet...