The Rushes @ Oran Mor

Even in front of this tiny audience, The Rushes are clearly staking out a populist take on melodic pop. A perfect support for the Turin Brakes, they lack the main act's country-tinged sadness and acoustic subtlety, but push Dan Armstrong's melodic piano and Gerard O'Connell's spry vocals to the fore. Warding off feyness through some forceful drumming, The Rushes are clearly in the tradition of Keane and Coldplay, alternating between anthemic choruses and wistful verses. However, unlike Turin Brakes, who seem to have disappeared into performance clichés, they hold on to an awkward originality. Wasted is an ambitious epic and What You Waiting For pants with undisclosed anxiety, though they're less comfortable when they try to raise the pace, with jazzy licks melting into bombast. The bursts of vocal harmony sit well with the slower numbers, and if their lyrics rarely stray past well worn themes of love and loss, Joe Allen's percussion prods them beyond the predictable. (Gareth K Vile)