Cold Light of DayThe Johnson ArmsThursday 6th November

They only got here a month since and, presumably in some unified subversion of your Gatecrashers and your Oceanas, the students have already infiltrated the usually serene Johnson Arms. Then again, the bands didn't help much either - slinking onstage, Retford's two man (well, a man and a woman) folk-blues outfit The Listeners proceed to dish out more destruction to the quiet indie pub atmosphere than a week's worth of tipsy Freshers could ever muster. At their loudest, guitarist Robert's knife-edge guitar lines and singer Emma's sultry musings combine to create a thrilling prospect, the chalk-and-cheese likes to which, if it weren't for these, you'd likely only lay witness should Howling Bells bring Nico back from the grave for an autumn night's campfire singalong, while their hushed mid-set tracks recall "Ocean of Noise" Arcade Fire. Stirring stuff, then.

You couldn't easily pin down Apples For Faces if you tried; a (temporarily) drummer-less pair, the two of them create a sunkissed sound that seems slighly out of place throughout, yet is varied enough to stay interesting - vocalist Tom's bruised lyrics flit from drug addiction to nasty break-ups, all the while bathed in Creole-style mandolins and intermittent theremin that leaves them owing a significant debt to Bright Eyes and Vampire Weekend, a not-too unfamiliar formula these days. It's for this very reason that their set becomes somewhat undone partway through; Apples for Faces wear their influences so confidently on their sleeves that every track seems to resemble a mish-mash of something you've heard before, which leads them, ultimately, to a premature impasse. It'll be interesting to see where they go next from here.

Packed out on word-of-mouth alone, The Johnson Arms is almost a who's who of the local scene - The Kull frontman Andrew Shipley, as well as Reverend Martin 'Car Bootleg' Nesbitt are in presence to name just a few. It's their constant bubbling under the surface that's meant Cold Light of Day have such a riveting live show - their underground status belies subdued guitar lines and pounding pianos that could fill a venue twice the size, and lose little from it. Fresh from the success of latest project Spiritualized's comeback success with Songs in A + E, Richard Warren cuts a dauntingly confident figure onstage, with Huw Costin's thumping bass rhythms effortlessly buoying the pair in their slower numbers. Their set's a busy one, veering from the wall-to-wall Cave-esque ferocity of 'Come Down Here' to the rose-tinted Americana of 'Texan Girls' and much in between, and relishing the intimacy of the gig, the pair of them leave wide-mouthed and, fingers crossed, likely to get something committed to tape in the near future.

Cold Light of Day played:

• Nothing Really Matters Anymore
• Pink Skin
• Sunshine Gone
• Come Down Here
• Lost
• God Bless the Devil In Me
• The Loneliest Road
• Texan Girls
• Black Stone Empires

http://www.myspace.com/apples4faces
http://www.myspace.com/thelisteners