Thursday 09/02/06 The Fallout Trust, Computerman, Vandal in Berlin @ The Barfly, Liverpool

Locals Vandal In Berlin enter the cold expanse of the Barfly theatre, just the sort of space for their atmospheric and expansive synth sound. It’s got a definite dose of the early 80s, not helped by the fact that one of the keyboard players looks like the lost member of Duran Duran and the singer is in the vocal range of Bono. Moving through the set they get a bit more creative going into 90s electronica and there closing track could be a Doves b-side. Top, but the sort of thing that should be sound tracking an art house film not warming you up on a Thursday night.

Computerman have a lot more energy and are happy to share it around with the crowd. 3 guys with curly hair stare at the floor and thrash the strings ninety-to-the-dozen to make a driving and anthemic nerd-rock sound that gets a few of the lethargic crowd moving. All good fun but Gigwise can’t help feeling it has seen this all before, far too much. The Fallout Trust, tonight’s headliners, are in much the same vein though at the more intellectual end of the pop spectrum. They don’t stray far from the guitars and keys based electropop blueprint. The odd dash of strange sounds and a just a  smidgen of violin keep things aurally interesting and their enthusiastic front man, resplendent in cardigan and braces, stops the show sinking into mediocrity.  It’s pleasant enough but doesn’t grip like it need to and after the inventiveness of Vandal In Berlin and the energy of Computerman it’s a bit of an anti-climax.