The Horrors @ Cabaret Voltaire

The cliche, that 'nothing is shocking any more', tends to relate to the content of ideas, not the intensity of an experience as a whole. So kinky sex may be easy joke material for prime time television presenters, but getting a whip across your buttocks while blindfolded retains its peculiar vitality. While it may be increasingly hard to make music that will startle the aural intellect of an audience, a full-on experience will always be a jolt to the senses. The space-shattering sound of The Horrors' core band is the greatest revelation tonight: driving a pounding combination of rockabilly, techno and goth styles in a brutal but irresistibly upbeat assault. While this tighter-than-thou racket energises all before it, strobes throb the air, mannequin-like performers shriek, pose, and play the fool - and all with an intense commitment to rock 'n' roll filth that transcends mere theatricality. Let the wild rumpus go on. [RJ Thomson]