A Place To Bury Strangers

Despite the ridiculously early start time, while most people are still making their way through the last remnants of rush hour traffic, Dead Confederate breeze their way through their short set with consummate ease. The Athens Georgia-based five-piece have been cooking up a storm back home with their slow-burning, psychedelic country, and by all accounts their first visit to the UK has created a similar surge of interest. It's no wonder either, as 'The Rat' glides and swoops in equal measures, while 'The News Underneath' and a somewhat visceral take on Sonic Youth's 'Theresa's Sound World' show a fiercer side to their somewhat transcendental persona. Make no mistake, Dead Confederate are ones to watch, and even when surrounded by more renowned (and louder) company such as their current touring partners, they more than justify their presence.

Tim Presley, Rob Barbato and Andy Granelli may be better known for having played in various other more high profile bands but as three-fifths of Los Angeles combo Darker My Love, one suspects it will only be a matter of time before similar levels of acclaim are heaped on their present musical tour de force. Two albums into their career they may be, last year's 2 re-affirming their status as one of California's best kept secrets, their set is something of a monumental high in feedback-tinged guitar rock. Sure, all of the influences you'd expect to find are there - Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, The Dandy Warhols, The Brian Jonestown Massacre - but in songs such as 'Northern Soul' and the anthemic 'Talking Words' Darker My Love have a prowess about them that elevates them above being mere retrospective enthusiasts with a nous for noise. Although heavy on material from the aforementioned album, 2, they also air a couple of their eponymous debut's more powerful moments; the closing 'Helium Heels' sounding particularly like a holocaust in waiting during its impetuous climax.

With a reputation as one of the loudest bands in the world, A Place To Bury Strangers must be wondering whether or not people actually bother to pay attention to their songs and just concentrate on the noise elements instead. Bearing that in mind, it comes as something of a surprise that, for the most part, the venue's capped sound levels make them appear a damn sight more melodic than people have ever given them credit for. The three new songs they play this evening seem more about poise than power; 'In Your Heart' and 'Forcefield' particularly sharing a healthy kinship with Pornography-era Cure or even the tumultuous roar of Killing Joke circa Fire Dances. If anything, tonight's show more than amply demonstrates their ability to craft deft songs of ubiquitous beauty and even though familiar set closer 'Ocean' is bathed in a halo of muddy noise and delay, there's a general feeling here that A Place To Bury Strangers wish to be seen as more than just a government health warning for tinnitus.