Tuesday 06/06/06 Amanda Ghost, Jackson Analogue, The Fallout Trust, Serf @ The Metro, London

Tonight’s XFM Rock City Showcase started in earnest with Serf. All swagger, smiles and perfected rock n roll poses but without the arrogance, this self-assured rock driven four piece from Huddersfield are good fun from the off. With ‘Small Town Blues’, ‘Where Did The Love Go’ and ‘Love, Sex And Money’ underlining their emerging raw potential.

The Fallout Trust are the embodiment of a complete working band. And tonight is no exception. Joe Winter’s heart felt, deeply passionate vocals, dry wit and body shaking movements strangely reminiscent of Joy Division’s Ian Curtis bring TFOT’s self belief and genre splitting songs to the fore. Electro indie pop meets alt art rock is perfectly displayed through ‘This Voice Is Not My Voice’, ‘Washout’ and ‘Cover Up The Man’. It’s all about the music with TFOT and their new single ‘When We Are Gone’ finishes off an already exceptional and tense set with Joe urging the crowd to “Join our dimension!” No problem my friend.

Jackson Analogue brought their as ever impressive big noise to the small stage with ‘His Red Hand’, ‘Buffalo’ and ‘Janis’ amongst others. A sound reminiscent of a small town movie soundtrack constantly building on itself in layers with singer Rob Holmes’ doleful strained voice offset by the ever increasingly grinning Craig Watson on drums.

According to Joni Mitchell, Amanda Ghost is “The real deal” but tonight she seemed anything but. All talk and much promise but with no edge and semi predictable angst ridden lyrics that formed on your lips before they left hers. ‘Deep Water’ was her best of the evening accentuating a stunning voice. But sadly it’s not enough. And finishing on Ms Ghost is a bit of a let down considering the calibre of the rest of tonight’s acts. But we're sure Meat Loaf would agree that 3 out of 4 aint bad.