Saturday 29/10/05 Art Brut, Test Icicles, Vincent Vincent and the Villains @ Fuzztival, Sheffield

From Steve Lamacq’s cherry picked line up no particular curatorial design was discernible for Fuzztival - the discord this produced proved to be invigorating for both band and audience alike. The 2pm start would have meant a total of 12 hours spent in the confines of Sheffield University’s student union, even the free pint before 4 offer couldn’t make this prospect more tempting. This meant that early bands such as Kid Carpet, the toy instru-mentalist, suffered as a result.

Vincent Vincent and the Villains arrive on stage at the altogether more dignified hour of 9pm. Despite Vincent’s voice loss the previous night in Glasgow they get the crowd a-rockin’ and a-rollin’ along to their infectious rockabilly pop songs. The harmony led ‘Blue Boy’ charms and the ska-influenced ‘Johnny Too Bad’ has everyone skankin’ to the calypso beat. Vincent’s 1950’s baritone chuckle seems to long for a cover of the ‘Monster Mash’ but overall they evoke the atmosphere of an ice cream parlour; the perfect soundtrack to a date with a malt shake. A quick chat afterwards reveals that Tom and Will (guitar and bass) are also under the weather, goodness knows what they’re breeding up there in Glasgow, but their fears of a slightly subdued performance are unfounded, or so it seems until Test Icicles appear.

In complete contrast to what had gone before the TI’s burst on stage like a fizzy can of pop exploding in your face. Tumbling around like it is e-number only feeding day at the monkey house, their last single ‘Boa Vs Python’ is a series of screams punctuated by whoops, “yeah’s” and hollers with seemingly no full sentences in between. Underneath is a sinister, metallic bassline that harkens back to Sound of the Suburbs punk.

Eldest Icicle Rory works the screaming best, Sam’s attempts to actually sing don’t cut it; like Crucial Taunt (Tia Carrere’s band in Wayne’s World) they are better when they wail. The inter-song banter is quality as always; the now familiar ironic shout-outs to Soundgarden and the cries of “We suck!” always cause a ripple of amusement. The TI’s particular brand of thrash metal may not be so amusing on new record ‘For Screening Purposes Only’ but live they are ferociously energetic, heart-warmingly sincere and genuinely good fun. The variety of sounds and visual information they produce - careering around like drunks on a bouncy castle, is hugely entertaining and livens proceedings at the Fuzz Club tonight.

Last band on, Art Brut reap the benefit of the TI’s energising effect and they do give us a lot for our money with a lengthy set featuring all of their most popular numbers. As tradition dictates they begin by rallying the troops with ‘We Formed a Band’ but only after a surprisingly heavy guitar solo from ex-Art Goblin Jasper. It’s an interesting showcase for his talents and a great introduction to a more biting and edgy set from a band whose childish enthusiasm can prove too saccharine for some. They are in danger of provoking a cynical backlash when teemed with other cutesy acts such as The Pipettes or The Chalets however, the previous thrashing by Test Icicles induces a more grown up and punky performance.

Eddie Argos’ ‘Mickey Pearce meets Mark E Smith’ style complements a refreshingly chaotic, noisy set. ‘My Little Brother’, ‘Rusted Guns of Milan’ and ‘Modern Art’ are roughed up, much more anarchic and interesting than their album suggests. Singles ‘Emily Kane’ and ‘Good Weekend’ get a good old sing-a-long going and double encore ’18,000 Lira’ and ‘Band Bang Rock n Roll’ round things off in a pleasantly dark and menacing way. It is unclear whether Jasper has inspired this new approach but he is certainly capable of filling, if not bursting out of, slightly creepy ex-guitarist Chris Chinchilla’s shoes.

Post-gig and pre-secret Artic Monkeys party, Eddie reveals another new direction - he intends to expose a tattoo of some cat’s posing as a band from underneath a Velcro fastened flap in his shirt in moments of on stage over-exuberance. An original gimmick but also a slightly terrifying one. Whatever Lamacq’s thinking, or lack thereof, this year’s freshers see the benefit of a re-energised Art Brut and a sizzling line-up in general. The aforementioned Kid Carpet, Envelopes, Architecture in Helsinki and local legend MJ Hibbett will hopefully return at a more civilised hour sometime soon.