NoLoGos december

Le Bateau 12-00
The Arab Strap twins – or St Thomas – have come from Scandanavia with a pair of guitars and a wry way with a line ("I’m special/ you complain"), only to find themselves fighting the first outbreaks of Christmas festivities on a cold night in the Zanzibar. A not-too-effective petulant twatting of the microphone suggests their egos may be as fragile as their songs, but they deserve a hearing in less boisterous surroundings.

"Happy Days" says the singer from Dorien Grey, but he looks oh-so-shaggable, so we’ll forgive him. We always do. A clutch of young girls with cameras suggests we’re not alone. The first song comes with three speeds – shattered, defiant and defeated – and, like the best of their set takes military precision and forces it onto a Duranesque lushness. Other tracks feel a bit flat compared with their best, but they offer hope for the new year.

Fozzie Bear waves a tambourine. The bloke from At The Drive sits half-naked behind the drums, smoking a tab. Someone, somewhere, runs around waving a LedZep riff. Suddenly all criticism; all critics are rendered as impotent as the keyboard. Just as Deep Purple becomes a shade of paint, Berger becomes a band. Half the audience think they’re in on some sort of joke, the other half are desperately trying to remember how to duck and cover. Like a Sonic Youth who went straight to producing the White(y) Album, the Spanner of Fire of Desire are part experiment, part jest and wholly compelling. Disturbingly, they’re also better value than 83% of other local bands.

‘Punk’ has become – thanks to Blink 182 and Grampus 8 – such a widespread, cover all term, Pinhole are actually the world’s first punk/punk hybrid: half three minute heroes, half Green Day. All they need is a Johnny Thunders comedy smack habit and they could invent a tri-corner punk. Using keyboards in a supporting way – adding to the sound, rather than joining the fashion – the new Pinhole lineup are bouncier than ever. You wouldn’t wish following the Spanners on anyone, but Pinhole manage to just about straighten out the effects of the brain-wrong enough to release us back into society.