Thursday 30/07/09 Dinosaur Pile-Up @ Monto Water Rats, London

Of all of London's venues inclined for an evening of rock, the Water Rats is not one of them. Indeed, the opening double doors that lead into the performance room has more inclined with your posh Grandmas's dinning room than a sweaty noise pit.

So Telegraphs' appearance is some what of a surprise. Producing alt rock that borders only slightly on screamo, their sound is wholesome and crunchy even if the singing goes a little a rye at times.  Though the sound techs do an adequate job for the evening, its possible to imagine Telegraphs presenting a fascinating prospect in a venue that isn't akin Victorian living room, and are definitely a band to follow up on.

Same such warm praise can't follow Dinosaur Pile-Up. Their debut EP – ‘The Most Powerful EP In The Universe’ – presents a tantalising vision of an anti-chart early Ash with a bit more balls. Sadly what this transfers to live is meek grunge revivalism. The long hair and scraggy beards are forgivable; the compromised, over-cooked toneless guitars are not. Ploughing through their EP plus a selection of non-discript uninspiring sludgy material, it becomes remarkably clear that what might had been considered as intricate song writing might actually have been misinterpretation on my part. Even the genuine smash that is 'Summer Hit Single' -  mocking bands who disappear at the end of every festival season only to be seen again at the next - feels hopelessly flat in tonight's proceedings.   

Tonight is a ham-fisted affair that at times verges dangerously on a poor Nirvana parody. Those who are enjoying are clearly of an age to have lived through grunge before – or have picked up a copy of 'Nevermind' and NME and put two and two together. The wasted potential is lost on them. Yet the shock will come when they finally get their sweaty paws on the copy of the EP.

With Dinosaur Pile-Up then all that could have been has thus not been achieved and there is much to make up. But the potential is there - even if it is buried under atonal dirge right now.