The Effects Of Urban Light Pollution?

This is a short review, of just one act. So, read it, it won't kill you. Saying you think think Clunes' Reggie Perrin is better than Rossiter's, that might kill you.

AND NO STAR, Zodiac, 10/04

Four lads amble onstage. They aren't particularly old, and look nervous. The bass doesn't work. Someone mumbles. Embarrassment. Okay, we know what to expect here, don't we? Inept Oasisisms or identikit punk waffle.

Wrong! And No Star's first number is so assured and imposing there's a suspicion that the opening fumbles were some eleborate joke. A fizzing sherbet bomb of guitar noise is launched at us, only to be immediately replaced by an ornery patchwork of strange time signatures and awkward arpeggios. Musically it's firmly in the tradition of local mathlords Youth Movie Soundtrack Strategies, augmented with the sort of abrasive dirty rocking we might associate with Sonic Youth (and even as I type that I realise where And No Star got their name).

The set is primarily instrumental, whihc is fortunate as the vocals are frankly dire. Not that they're strictly necessary when the music is so beguilingly intricate. Despite a raging desire to snip some mic cables, my only concern is that, underneath the superbly performed wonky arrangements, some of the core muscial material is somewhat hackneyed. The first track is built on a melodic motif that could be the TVAM theme, for God's sake. Pebble Mill post-rock anyone? Thought not. And No Star need to get some fresher compositions to get their teeth into. But what lovely sharp teeth they are.