Ollo, Matthew Edwards & The Unfortunates and ROC @ Windmill Brixton

Tonight was a Metal Postcard triple-header.

Ollo suffered Ableton Gremlins and were only able to give us two tracks as they were meant to be heard. They persevered abmirably throughout the hiccoughs, and then showed us what we'd missed with the intriguing Litterbrain. Next time...

Matthew Edwards & The Unfortunates were the entirely live filling in an electronic sandwich. I'm firmly of the belief that anything can be sandwichized; nevertheless, time would prove METU to be an odd choice of filling - like sticking boeuf bourguignon between two slices of Mighty White. I want to pick cliches out of my pockets like disintegrating tissues: they were assured, stylish, tight, funky... Single Mintour was perhaps the highlight, but No More Songs was a crescending (not a word?), rousing finish, and the whole set oozed panache (I'm pulling at lint now; they were very good).

ROC: I don't really know what on earth that was. The rapid and semi-breathy vocal delivery was interesting, but the sum of the parts was a mishmass wobbling on the edge of a disaster. Something like a sonic tornado whipping through a secondhand store. It was all a bit Danny Dyer's Chocolate Homunculous. Weird. They sound decent in that link, but that only adds to the weirdness.

One Way Ticket, The Cracked Belles and Beatrix Players @ Windmill Brixton

Beatrix Players are Singer Amy White, Keyboardist Jess Kennedy and Cellist Amanda Alvarez. They play beautiful, heartfelt, moving music of the sort I would normally avoid, and yet when it's being conjured up right in front of you, and you're standing feet away from the cavorting fingers, gliding bow and flitting voice, all cynicism, bitterness and yearning for brutality melt away. They have stuff on soundcloud and tracks to download via their website, if you're the sort of soft sod who likes things that make you feel stuff and think things and that. Sniff.

The Cracked Belles. Holy shit. They're Dani Sachar on vocals, Feadora Morris on guitar, Rick Lehane on Bass, and Aimee Schmidt on drums. And man are they fucking great. Don't take my word for it: listen to 'Good Friday' on their soundcloud via the link above and imagine you're standing there witnessing this happening - not seeing it via some scratchy black and white Youtube video with 12 million views of a performance from 4 decades ago, but right now in front of you. How can anyone sound that good today? Performances like this don't happen now, they happened in half-empty clubs a generation ago, when only half a dozen people appreciated it at the time but 5 years later half a world was grooving out to it and half a century later they still are. Mother Mary, halleleujah. Bassist Rick told me they're based in North London and play in Camden a lot, so if you're up that way, go see em. And if you're not, head there.

One Way Ticket were pretty decent. Everyone else in the place sure loved them, and their drummer was driving their performance like a classic Bugatti in a tropical hurricane as I snuck off home to hunt down The Cracked Belles online. And now I've listened to Good Friday three times. And I'm not done yet...