Rumble Strips

The garish opulence and rococo decor of the Cafe Royal Grill Room on Regent Street makes an odd setting for the raw ska-skiffle clatter of the Rumble Strips, but when the record company has opened a tab at the bar, who's complaining? This Devon-born outfit have managed to take time out from their gruelling touring schedule to record an album in LA with Tony Hoffer, producer of the Fratellis & the Kooks. The record isn't out 'til August though, so tonight's showcase is really just to whet our appetites.

Whatever else you can say about the Rumble Strips, they treat every gig like it was their last moment on earth. Though we barely get a half-hour of music from them tonight they go about the task with feverish intensity. It's a pounding, relentless barrage of a set, an ear-rupturing, frenetic melee of sax, ska and soul. Parts of it are enthralling but if there's a complaint to be made, it's that each number seems pretty much like the one before. They're so busy hammering their instruments into submission that the songs scarcely have any time to breathe, and so it all effectively dissolves into a great splodge of sound. It's like Dexys Midnight Runners without any of the quiet bits.

In their retro brashness they also sound a lot like Vincent Vincent and the Villains, which should hardly come as a surprise. Frontman Charlie Waller left that group for the Rumble Strips, a desertion that inspired the Villains track 'Johnny Two Bands'. It's too early to tell just yet, but it'll be interesting to see which band becomes the footnote in the other's story.