Saturday 15/07/06 The Sleepy Jackson, Findlay Brown @ Rescue Rooms, Nottingham

Support Findlay Brown takes to the stage with an assembled crew of hippy musicians who look like they were headed for Woodstock but took a wrong turning somewhere along the way. Sporting handlebar moustaches and a fine array of Cowboy attire their arrival seems to please the surprising number of dads in the crowd.

Musically, it comes as little surprise then that they sound something like the bastard sons of Neil Young and Credence Clearwater Revival. However, after a couple of jaunty ho-downs things go downhill when the backing musos decide they’ve had enough and  stand stone-cold still and mute leaving frontman Findlay to his own devices armed only with an acoustic guitar and a collection of songs that even Kelly Jones would file under ‘dull b-side fodder’.

Dull is never a word that could be used to describe Luke Steele and his constantly rotating band of musicians. Live, The Sleepy Jackson are as odd a proposition as their beguiling front man. New single, the Brian Wilson-esque ‘God Lead Your Soul’ opens the set and with the guitars pushed to the forefront packs more punch than it does on record. It’s followed by a series of new tracks from forthcoming new album ‘Personality’ which suggest that despite the ever-changing cast, the Sleepy Jackson haven’t lost their knack of writing classic pop melodies. But that’s not to say they always feel the inclination to use it. A charming medley of ‘Miniskirt’ and ‘Mourning Rain’ from debut album Lovers is breathtakingly beautiful. Miniskirt isn’t played live in full anymore after a former band member who died in a bizarre trucking accident we are told.

But then, from the sublime to the ridiculous, the crowd are put through a bemusing 15 minute post-rock drone that would make Mogwai sound like The Kooks. There may have been more than one song in there but you’d be hard pushed to tell. Its only redeeming feature is an entertaining duel between Steele and guitarist Lee Jones who both take turns to pull the silliest rock posturing shapes they can muster while endeavouring to make their guitars sound like Doctor Who’s daleks. It’s just as well then that they have the Velvets-go-glam stomper Vampire Racecourse to pull out of the bag to rescue the set.

The Sleepys may be a band who like to try your patience - but there’s no doubting that they’ve got the hooks to warrant it.