Swound! album launchThe Bodega Social ClubSunday 19th October

As your trusty scribe climbs the Bodega’s stairs and steps into the main room, the handful of punters hardy enough to show up so early are stood resolutely against its four walls. Peering around the corner and onto the stage, it’s evident why - three grown men in a variety of costumes ranging from Batman to Father Christmas are pacing the stage whilst frantically issuing an aggressive, if well-intended, paean to the joys of Matlock, and its train-related attractions. Crowds are rarely petrified and intrigued in such equal measures, so kudos to Arse Full of Chips for providing us with such an inadvertantly provocative beginning to proceedings, if little else.

By the time Bipolar Bear take to the stage AFOC’s effect is noticeable, to the extent that bassist David has to coax the latecomers to fill in the gaps in front of them. That done, the band launch into opener and calling-card ‘Default’, which veers from the melodic harmonies of Mumm-Ra and Ghosts to the ferocity of Biffy Clyro, and sets the tone for their brief, if busy, set. Ostensibly an average four-pierce, Bipolar Bear achieve more with their setup than many could with double it and the recent addition of ex-Sanzen multi-instrumentalist Rob Upton on drums sees the often cavernous venue filled to the rafters with a soaring intensity.

While on record the brothers Staszkiewicz channel the Test-Icicles/Shitdisco movement of 2006, Swound! are an entirely different prospect on stage. Before playtime commences, party poppers are circulated through the crowd and the band enter to a cacaphony of screams and wolfwhistles, launching straight into the aural assault of visceral mid-album scorcher ‘Bust a Move’. Dealing only in snarling knee-jerk punk-funk, their 10 song set passes in little over half an hour, with many a spoken interlude and more than one plug of their debut LP which, as the band point out, is available from a small stall at the rear-end of the hall from none other than their long-suffering Mum. Vaguely incestual it may be, but as ‘Lost In Space’ signals the rapid approach of Sunday night’s strict 10pm curfew, it’s evidently a recipe for success.

Swound played:

• Bust a Move
• Creeping
• New Song
• Disco Siberia
• Shut Your Mouth
• Here Come the Robots!
• Living in a Box
• The Christmas Song
• What's Your Poison?
• Lost in Space

www.myspace.com/swound
www.myspace.com/bipolarbearuk
www.myspace.com/arsefullofchips