First band on were The Mirimar Disaster, a local band fronted by well-known local metal DJ Stocky. A good crowd for a still small band, and they benefitted strongly from the powerful sound set-up. A disparate mix of metal stylings, but very much at the avant garde end of things – we counted something like 15 time changes in the first track – they somehow manage to keep it all together. The band are musically very strong, with an ultra-tight rhythm section underpinning the whole thing, some tracks lumber along before exploding into chugging riffs that knock you back on your heels.

Still a tiny bit rough on the edges, but their power is clearly in the live arena. Go see.

An awful lot has been said about 65Daysofstatic over the past year or so in the press, and the buzz about them has been growing to fever pitch just recently – and their second album is about to come out – so expect to hear a lot more. When I saw them last, back in December, they were bottom of the bill. This time they are headining a packed Fuzz Club, and most of the crowd appear to be there to see them, unfortunately with various drunken muppets just in front of us chanting the band’s name for half the set. Not that it was much of a problem during much of it, as they were very, very loud.

65DoS may be lumped in with the post-rock crowd, but they don’t really do quiet bits. Most of their tracks are done within four minutes, too, but all the tell-tale influences are there. There is a bit of Mogwai in there, the exquisite highs of Explosions In The Sky, the apocalyptic forboding of Godspeed. But then, things get a little strange. Intertwined within all this come all manner of electronics, bubbling away in the background at some points, or underpinning whole tracks at others – best example being the incredible beat-fest of install a beak in the heart that clucks time in arabic, where in addition to the electronic beats, it appears that the drummer has about four arms.

Nothing sounds forced at any point. Despite some of the electronics clearly being on backing tracks, songs twist and turn from one rhythm to another, melodies will come and go, and all through it, no lyrics are there. Frankly they would take away some of the awesome intensity of the music.

There was something else about it, too – as my girlfriend noted, the whole set is filled with this feeling of melancholy, but in a way that can only be described as uplifting. If that makes any sense at all. Maybe there is no sense about it – you just need to hear it. Something tells me this is the end of a chapter, too. The end of them being a “best-kept secret”, and the beginning of a time where they will be fully in the eyes of the national music media. And how they will cope blinking into the spotlight will be interesting, as they clearly seem rather shy and would rather hide behind the astonishing wall of sound.

As a final note, it being John Peel Day of course, the song to follow 65DoS? Teenage Kicks. What else?