Friday 25/05/07 Editors, I was A Cub Scout, The Envy Corps @ Glasgow Barrowlands

Already signed to The Killers’’ management and with a major label debut album out later this year, The Envy Corps are already making waves. Though their support set doesn't set the world on fire, there's enough in the way of crunching, sweeping rock to suggest they'll soon be as ubiquitous as the Killers. There's a touch of early Verve about the Iowa quartet, with a hard, driving sound that fills the Barrowlands, managing to garner an enthusiastic response from the small group of early goers dotted around the venue. Though the Envy Corps aren't re-inventing the wheel they do have a steady, satisfying thump throughout, with their closing number screeching and clawing its way to a crescendo of noise.

Any excitement The Envy Corps stirred is sharply killed off when I Was A Cub Scout take the stage. Their synth-emo pop is dull in the extreme, not helped by both band members taking time to thank the other bands they're playing with, sentiments which lurch towards the hysterical hyperbole favoured in American early morning soap operas. Gigwise half expects a group hug to follow their pronouncements. This would be acceptable if the music was anything special but it isn't, simply offering twee, forgettable synths and bland, dry pop. The Nottingham two-piece never got going, with a couple of tracks sounding like slightly harder children's lullabies. Which would be fitting, as I Was A Cub Scout sent the audience to sleep.

An early salvo of 'Bullets' and 'Blood' from Editors got the atmosphere above moribund again, the crowd unsurprisingly bouncing along. Though their music is infested with a pervading darkness, the reception the band receive is one of joyous enthusiasm, pints flying through the air non stop. Editors have always managed to pull back from the brink when their music gets too claustrophobic, meaning there's a steady stream of angular guitar pop produced. Mixing several tracks from forthcoming new album 'An End Has A Start' with tracks from 'The Back Room', there's a confident swagger about the group, an assured footing about both them and the material.