When hip Texan noiseniks And You Shall Know Us By The Trail of Dead appeared in Leeds recently, traffic was temporarily brought to a halt as the entire city centre was filled with noise. This had nothing to do with the Americans, but was a mischievous prank courtesy of Doncaster hopefuls Beachbuggy. It is one thing to be blown off stage by an unknown band, quite another when the challengers are playing outside your venue on the back of a lorry.
Ironically, Beachbuggy's spirit has thus far been recognised mostly in America. Noise/production guru Steve Albini even flew them over to make an album. But the fiery four-piece are determined to make inroads in their homeland. A launch do for their new Kickin' Back single provides a rare chance to see them on a stationary stage, without the "assistance" of city centre policemen.
They have certainly made an effort. Clad in white boiler suits that reflect their 1950s racing car obsession, the band look like a cross between Kraftwerk, Devo and Stirling Moss. They have two drummers, and when they get going in unison the effect is wonderfully eerie, rather like Kraftwerk's robots if they had been allowed to grin. Unleashing enormous Glitter Band grooves with clinical precision, the pair play exactly the same beats, although occasionally one of them will slip in something different and smirk at the other knowingly.
Sadly, though, the drummers' magnetism is not yet reflected in the rest of the band. The bassist has an impressive air of disdain, but singer-guitarist Jack Straker - a kind of sci-fi Mark E Smith on disc - has difficulty transferring his impressive recorded presence to the stage. With Straker skulking in the corner and his barking voice drowned by echo, his rapier wit is almost inaudible and their marauding Fall-ish surf punk lacks the wallop of the forthcoming Sport Fury album, or their lorry appearances. But they still enjoy conceptual jokes, and end the evening by standing perfectly still, like showroom dummies, and then walking off one by one.
This hasn't quite been Beachbuggy's night, but we won't have heard the last of them. They may well put in an impromptu appearance on a housing estate somewhere on their way home.
• Beachbuggy play the Camden Palace, London NW1 tonight (020-7387 0428), then tour.
