Saturday 29/11/08 Everything Everything @ The Barfly, London

Playing among Brighton rockers, The Crave, and Britpop-channeling locals, Stricken City, are Manchester’s freshest export, Everything Everything. Any allusions to Underworld’s album (that they too share a name with) disappear instantly as they saturate the crowd with their sporadic melodies and three-way choral harmonies between Jonathan, Jeremy and Alex that would turn the average choir boy green.

The audience take a few songs to win over as they greet the four-piece with silence between songs, during which the band claim they “could hear a pin drop”. However, new single 'Suffragette Suffragette', an epic melodic exploration, receives a raucous reaction with its boisterous “sit on my face” lyrics. Each song spurts off in different directions, yet there’s a distinctive Everything Everything formula that’s detectable throughout their set.

Despite their indie-pop coating, when compared with Manchester’s recent offerings these boys appear like more of an art-collective. Indeed, they're more kindred spirits with Animal Collective or TV on the Radio than the Happy Mondays. The vocal layers within last song, the slow and subtly dazzling 'Weights', make their instruments almost redundant while the trio of vocalists explore their pitch range with all the steam of a woodwind band.

As they take their leave from the stage, Everything Everything virtually clear the room in their departure, which is unfortunate for following band Stricken City as they bravely deliver the final performance of the night. Everything Everything prove a very tough act to follow.