UNKLE @ ABC, 13 Nov

Let's not piss about here: UNKLE haven't been playing in quite the same ballpark since DJ Shadow left the fold not long after the appearance of their defining 1998 debut opus. So it makes fair sense that founding member James Lavelle might saunter back to the drawing board and seek out another visionary to help forge the shape-shifting outfit a new identity after 2003's only so-so Never, Never Land. Lavelle's pilgrimage to Joshua Tree - where he spent a term with veteran producer Chris Goss (Masters of Reality, Kyuss, QOTSA) on album number three - has undoubtedly given the project the shot of adrenaline it required.

Though Goss isn't here in person tonight, his desert rock aesthetic is everywhere, from the orchestration of Chemistry's winding guitars to the twitching, acid-tinged delirium of Restless. There are no grand cameos from collaborative alumini like Kool G Rap, Thom Yorke or Jason Newsted either – that'll be the stuff of a much bigger budget - but the roots of their socio-political sloganeering are represented well by an edit of Rabbit in Your Headlights cast on the ABC's back wall.

Elsewhere, the unsynchronised visuals to accompany the playback of Ian Astbury and Josh Homme's respective vocal parts over Burn My Shadow and Restless do little to keep things flying, but Gavin Clark's drawling Grant Lee Phillips-like delivery of Keys to the Kingdom is moving enough to help sweep those details under the carpet. Likewise, Lavelle – hardly known for his vocal talents - and Richard File's duet over the back alley symphony Price You Pay makes for another esoteric highlight.

If this is what the latest incarnation of UNKLE can do with bass, drums, guitar, laptop and only a skeleton crew of guests at its disposal, the sky would no doubt be the limit if the entire cast was on call for the night.

Somebody write in to Jim'll Fix It, for god's sake.