The Research @ Cabaret Voltaire

Fresh out of most-hypes-per-capita-ville Wakefield, The Research faced the task of filling the void of a half-empty Cab Vol on nothing less than a St Valentine's evening. My scepticism (mainly revolving around having to reject The Cribs in favour of their Wakefield homies) is luckily blasted to bits approximately five seconds into the sugar-coated set of electro-motown-twee-pop when the charming spell hits me and the rest of the Valentine's rejects in the house. Elevated on an orange stool sits The Disaster, a blonde son of the Grandaddy school, complete with trucker-hat and a second-hand, who directs his band through the pop-tastic compositions from forthcoming EP 'Breaking Up'. "I love you but I'm scared I'll fuck it up" squeals Sarah and Georgia, the two other thirds of the trio and that's enough to make me realise that I would never have found a better Valentine's date than The Research. [Chris Nordeng]