Switches @ Barfly

Consider the world of live music as a variety pack of savoury, potato-based snacks. Within this starchy realm, openers Mickey 9s are the generic supermarket brand cheese and onion. They provide value for money and will offer temporary satisfaction if not excitement. The next packet contains eighties throwbacks Midnight Machines with their synth-led stylings. They are, naturally, Skips: retro and fun, if slightly lacking in substance. They are also the evening's highlight as headliners The Switches offer merely posturing and headbanging. Frontman Matt Bishop is somewhere between Brian Molko and Jake Shears in his performance, which is energetic if nothing else. Crisp-wise they are Doritos; bland yet strangely popular. [Tali Burgess]