This Bike Is A Pipe Bomb @ Subway Cowgate

Edinburgh's Cold Dead Hands Collective specialises in putting on low-budget hardcore gigs, and although This Bike Is A Pipe Bomb's brand of folk, country and punk rock doesn't quite resemble the varying levels of shouting that the support bands bring us, it's their politics and commitment to the DIY ethic that make them compatible. When they take to the stage, the crowd set about jumping on top of one another with glee, culminating in a human pyramid which repeatedly collapses like a soufflé. The sole drawback is that the vocals aren't all that easy to make out tonight, but such flaws are unimportant as the banter between songs, the energy, and the sheer enthusiasm of band and audience combined make up for this. Between the subject matter (war, ethical kids' toys, urban gentrification, getting off with people in skips), the harmonica, the dancing, and the sheer chaos, more gigs should be like this. But I guess then we wouldn't appreciate them as much. (Nine)