Opening act Paper Bag Lunchbox have a singer with a very high voice and take themselves very seriously indeed. They also remind me a lot of late 90s post-Britpop also-rans Geneva, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but where Geneva had some killer tunes and knew where the line between sweepingly epic and just plain tedious lay, Paper Bag Lunchbox will require further schooling.

Similarly, Miaou need to put their songs through a rigorous exercise programme to get them down to competition weight. They play the kind of sweeping, synth-laden, shoegazey post-rock that taunts you with a superficial resemblance to emotion, but conveys only blankness. There is undoubtely some (intentional or otherwise) social comment in the feeling of emptiness that this music creates but its also self-indulgent and lacking in focus, which no amount of artistic integrity can excuse.

As an example of a band that takes the same formula but gets it right, just check out Emulsion. They're definitely helped immensely by the fact that they have one of the best drummers in Japan, but there's a hell of a lot more to it than that. The songs are intricately constructed, with each instrument seemingly working independently of the others, but nonetheless falling together beautifully. Guitar textures rise and fall at the push of an effects-pedal, synth and hammond sounds integrate into the music rhythmically rather than simply washing over the top of the music, and it's all performed with a mixture of incredible technical skill and raw punk energy.

Despite being listed as a "special guest", Mick Turner seems to be the one that most people are here to see. He brings the atmosphere right down again with his quiet, looping and meandering guitar twanging, which frequently recalls, albeit in an even more minimalist manner, a fair bit of his work with Dirty Three. The tone of the set only really rises above a whisper with a cover of The White Stripes' "Seven Nation Army" that builds to a thunderous, feedback-drenched climax.

Why did Art Of Fighting settle on such a misleading name? Perhaps there was already a band called Art Of Moping or something; who knows? Anyway, aggressive is one thing that they are decisively not. In fact, they've been compared a fair bit to British indie-rock bands such as Coldplay, which should have most people with ears running for the hills, but on a less horrifying note there are also powerful echoes of the wonderful Go-Betweens, particularly in Peggy Frew's bass. All told, it's music to sit on the beach at night watching the waves to, and it's nice enough. - Ian Martin, Apr.17.05.