That Fucking Tank @ 13th Note, 24 April

The proto-industrial clamour of Rollor has plenty of strengths, like a drum machine that’ll make the fillings in your teeth rattle, and Matt Harris’ knack for crafting riffs out of feedback, but his creative exuberance has the unfortunate effect of making the more direct bass playing of David Collins appear lifeless by comparison.

Shield Your Eyes are lots of things, but lifeless isn’t one of them, especially given that drummer Henri Grimes’ performance is energetic enough that it sometimes causes him to lose parts of his kit. And his clothes. Concentrating largely on material from their upcoming full-length, the songs from their first two albums that do make it into the set are transformed, expanded and embellished to the point of being almost unidentifiable.

Lacking the more free-form structures of the other acts tonight, it’s easy to peg Hey Enemy as the odd man out on tonight’s bill, yet they make up for any lack of spontaneity with a focus on solid riffs. There’s still enough vibrancy from the band to keep them from falling too far behind and their head-on style packs plenty of oomph, but this is a far more sedate performance than we've become accustomed to.

As That Fucking Tank take their allotted floor-space, it seems the crowd has tripled in just a few minutes. Then again, the appeal is evident when Andy Abbott picks up his guitar, pairing a sense of virtuosity and a bass-heavy punch to drive home sinewy melodies. All the while, James Islip makes do with a stripped down kit and he’s still as loud and unrestrained as any John Bonham disciple with a wider array of toms and cymbals at the end of their sticks. It must be migraine-inducing to get this complex a sound from such a basic setup, but this pair make it look easy. [David Bowes]