Lyca Sleep

They say that one man's missed chance is another's golden opportunity.

Well, tonight, the first statement goes out to the Bluetones, once the lovable scamps of the Britpop scene who in the heady days of 1996 could probably have charmed their way into the hearts of an ice lolly.

Unfortunately for them, fashion and music has changed, along with their popularity, and so it was no great surprise on entering the modest surroundings of The Mill to find that the Bluetones had pulled tonight's gig, singer Mark Morriss allegedly going down with a sore throat.

Nevertheless, the show must go on, and in the Bluetones' absence that mantle was left to Leeds' four piece LYCA SLEEP, no mean feat considering that most of the audience had left their humble abodes expecting to hear 'Slight Return' et al.

Instead, they were treated to something completely different, nee earth-shattering. Just imagine if there was some kind of time machine where you could form a collusion of heroes past and present, living or deceased, and your dream team for the evening consisted of Jeff Buckley and various elements of My Bloody Valentine, Mew and Sigur Ros.

Lyca Sleep combine elements of all the above along with the spacious guitar sound of 'A Storm In Heaven' era Nick McCabe and the eerie noise propensities of Los Planetos Del Agua.

'Are You Awake?' starts off like a subtle lullaby until what feels like a thousand spaceships rise and swoop in every direction, taking the roof into orbit as a hostage and reducing grown men to stare open-mouthed in awestruck disbelief.

The gorgeous, mesmerising chimes of 'Still Life' and the floating Mogwai-on-tranquilisers hedonism of 'Untitled...' both sound huge and encompassing without resorting to cranking the amps up to 11, and further demonstrate the fact that guitars are not necessarily the weapons of mass destruction that some of their peers make out.

Having barely reached double figures in terms of live shows, Lyca Sleep display an alluring level of confidence that far outweighs their tender years. If their predecessors were supposedly about shoegazing, then Lyca Sleep are about aiming for the stars and creating a whole new universe.

Simply breathtaking.