Wednesday 30/04/08 HEALTH, JayetAl, Elapse-O @ The Wheatsheaf, Oxford

The Wheatsheaf walls are adorned with images of 1970's monsters of rock like Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin, but Elapse-O are at odds with the prog gods. Instead, their template is '70's minimalists Suicide. No solo's, the guitar gave out jagged notes and well-placed feedback drone. Elapse-O are part of a noise niche, but importantly stay clear of nihilistic musical dead-ends. The subtle percussion timbre put out by the drum-machine on 'Island' stood in beautiful contrast to the crunching guitars. It was gloriously confused, the humans were trying to be machines and the machines were trying to be human. Elapse-O went out with a bang as the machine boomed out the sound of Japanese Taiko drums.

JayetAl would probably be more suited to a sunny festival field than the box-room Wheatsheaf. Their Jean-Michel Jarre-like laptop synths seemed a bit cramped. The band played on manfully, the guitarist/laptop operator alternately strumming quickly and programming the computer. It was a bit like watching someone in the midst of an internet porn session. The drummer did well to keep up with the occasional drum 'n' bass pace bass of the computer.

It was the first date of HEALTH's European tour and they seemed at ease immediately. The drummer (not the main drummer BJ, all four of them had a go drumming at various points) was in profile to us and flailing so wildly that it was impossible to tell what was hair and what was drum-stick. 'Glitter Pills' featured some next-level, digitised steel-drums and at another shockingly futuristic juncture the guitar was programmed to sound electronic.

All the while we were dancing to the beat of drummer BJ, he give it us quick and slow. This was as non-linear as a dream, perfect pop music for an alternate reality. Their mates Crystal Castles are getting most attention, but that band sound stale next to HEALTH.