Friday 11/02/05 Death From Above 1979, The Fever @ Barfly, Cardiff

"Um...we've only got two more songs cos the DJ says so," says a sweaty and slightly bewildered Sebastien Granger towards the end of DFA1979's set. Two songs later and the DJ's mellowed out a bit allowing for yet more audio-violence to thrill a stamping crowd.

Rewind an hour and The Fever are finishing up. Seventies screeching and art-rock beats combined with a singer swinging around the stage like a caged monkey - pretty fine stuff, but beaten into the ground by the real reason everyone's here.

DFA1979 have confessed to being slightly unsure of how long they'll be around for, but with the current vogue for art-rock heroin bands undergoing a crisis and the creme entering the loving embrace of the mainstream, there is a real gap for solid, adventurous, influential rock. From the moment Jesse Keeler and a newly shorn Sebastien Granger settle into their instruments there's the sound of a musical hole becoming slightly less empty.

The band run through 'You're a Woman I'm a Machine' with enthusiasm and expertise, getting people who wouldn't otherwise move from the bar to pin themselves to the stage and go wild - local magazine music editors indulging in violent air-bass for starters. From the dirty funkiness of 'Romantic Rights' to the bloody kicking off of 'Turn it Out' and 'Pull Out', there is not one moment where full concentration isn't a given, from the band or from the crowd.

DFA1979 aren't metal, punk, rock or funk - they're two men wielding instruments, ideas and a hell of a lot of talent. What's sure is that they're outside any passing fad and if you know what's good for you and your ears, you'll go straight to their website and check it out for yourselves.