大象传媒

Ok, doctor, I'll explain how it happened. I went out to a gig, as normal, and unbeknownst to me there were pole-dancers there. Now, the missus refused to believe that I knew nothing about them, and so that explains the large lump on my head and the head shaped dent in the frying pan. You do believe me don't you?

But before all that, Before Machines. They've got a counter-rhythm edge to their bit of Biffy Clyro with a contemporary art-rock twist to the staccato drums in the post-punk-pop thing going on. 'Crossfire' is, locally, somewhere between General Fiasco and Fighting With Wire, glorious pop meets rock with a drop of art, and even a hint of Fleetwood Mac in there. 'Heard You Coming' has little intricacies thrown in to prevent it being repetitive, and 'Silence She Wins' adds shimmer to the pop-art-funk-rock with a chorus of sing-along potential. Come the industrial devolution comrades!

Ablespacer are fairly infectious themselves, with a plaintive sneer of a vocal and influences of Radiohead among others. 'Trigger' gives full vent to their post-art post-grunge stylings with a soar added to the sneer, and the whole thing anchored by the incessant beat. 'When The Census Burns' is less frantic, more relaxed and expansive, the guitar less raw, a post-coital cigarette in comparison to what has come before it, but from there its straight into 'Butterfly Catch' and all relaxation forgotten as this angry surf tune screams about the intellectual property issues of genetics, with more than a little bit of in your face about it. 'Polyfilla', their closing number, is altered from normal to keep it interesting for them, and that's what they are, interesting, and with the potential to go somewhere.

Apparently there were some songs played by the last band, although some people swear they didn't see or hear them - ATL denies being one of those people. We are, after all, professional enough to ignore the lovely ladies performing gymnastics. Honest, we were too busy watching Dutch Schultz. It's loud, it's nasty in all the right places - 'Slice' is more than nice, with grungy overtones to its good old balls-out pop-rockiness with the expansive playfulness of the vocals reined in by the guitar. New single 'It Bends In The Middle' recalls Therapy?, early Manic Street Preachers and Sugar in the proto-grunge era. Then it gets loud.

They like a jaw-setting rhythm and, as a result, you've no option but to nod your head to the driving and pounding noise.

One question remains though - will they provide lap-dancers for the second album?

William Johnston