Nova Twins @ The Mash House, Edinburgh, 12 Feb

With their debut album disrupted by the pandemic and live shows out of the picture for more than a year, it’s quite impressive that London’s Nova Twins are still one of the buzziest bands on the planet, almost six years on from their first singles. That momentum has stayed high thanks to co-signs from the likes of Tom Morello and Bring Me The Horizon and glowing reviews for a series of support slots opening for Enter Shikari.

On stage, the explosive duo – backed by just a session drummer – are a riot of energy and colour, so it’s fitting that the whole neon-drenched tour is a sell out and some fans are on their third date already. The band tasked with doing to Nova Twins what Nova Twins did to Shikari tonight are Derry’s Cherym, a trio who take to the stage in baseball jerseys branded with their band name for a short set of queer love songs and outsider anthems. There’s no risk of them upstaging the headliners this evening but they’re a band worth keeping an eye on in their own right.

Ultimately though, this is Nova Twins’ victory lap and they attack the stage with a frenetic energy. Bassist Georgia South is a skilled technician and on most Nova Twins songs it’s on her to carry the lead with an array of burbling bass effects that earlier generations of nu-metallers could only dream of. Charismatic vocalist/guitarist Amy Love seems to have three voices – one high and piercing, a throaty rasp and a deft rap.

While their 'grime-punk' debut Who Are The Girls? was a welcome shot in the arm, offering rock music from a fresh perspective, it did sometimes have issues with consistency and pace. For second album Supernova due in the summer, the omens are good. New single K.M.B. gleams with promise, mixing gigantic rave-rock with squalling bass and a nimble hip-hop flow, while the festival-ready Cleopatra kicks off with Love yelling: 'Where are my warriors?'

Live, this band comes into their own, with the singer bouncing on the barrier and whipping up a frenzied audience. A circle pit makes the speaker stacks shake precariously, while fists pump the air to tracks like Antagonist and Athena. Near the end of the set, Love orders the audience down on the ground, looming over them like a punk rock Kaiju.

For encore jam Bassline Bitch, the singer doesn’t make it back to the stage as she’s had to rush to vomit, but fans in the front row take over the vocals. The whole thing threatens to get a little Spinal Tap as she wends her way through backstairs areas hunting for the stage but when she finally re-emerges to blame some bad noodles, there are wild cheers.

With Love back in the arms of her bandmates, there’s just time for a closing blast through the infectious Taxi to remind the crowd that Nova Twins are a band poised to explode.