The Zodiac’s hosting not one but two sold out gigs tonight. Despite recent media darlings Hard-Fi playing upstairs, the far less fashionable grafters Reuben have still packed the downstairs to capacity.

Opening to what’s already a reasonable crowd The Mascara Story don’t do much to whet our appetites. Not bad as such, they’re just a terribly generic sixth form-style band, who verge on average but spend too much time making unfocused noise, or whiny sub-Wheatus quiet moments. I blame Busted for a lot… The crowd make it quite hard to get to the bar, but thankfully Irish rockers Fighting With Wire are more inventive and focused. Not so surprising when I find frontman Cahir is also guitarist from Jetplane Landing!

Reuben themselves still seem to be playing toilet venues, despite their very promising sophomore album Very Fast, Very Dangerous. Opening with ‘Every Time A Teenager Listens To Drum & Bass A Rockstar Dies’, to enthusiastic reception from the hardcore fans, they stick largely to the new stuff – playing most of the recent album.

From the heavier ‘Alpha Signal Three’ (with a roadie taking the place of Karl Middleton) to the softer interlude of ‘Nobody Loves You’ (in which mobile phones seem to have replaced lighters for the ‘wave in the air’ moment), it’s clear many of these are instant crowd favourites, with special mention going to ‘Blamethrower’.

Of course, there are a few older songs too, such as ‘Let’s Stop Hanging Out’ and closer ‘Freddie Krueger’, but Jamie has to stop in the middle of ‘Scared Of The Police’ when Guy fucks up on the drums… It’s all taken with good humour, and a bit of banter with the crowd. Reuben will never be a world-changing band, but they’re a lot better than plenty of other noisy garage-punk acts, and tonight’s show highlights that not everyone is won over by Hard-Fi’s polished sound. This is real gritty rock ‘n’ roll.
(4/5)

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