I first heard of baggy brummies

The Twang

on this year's Spanking New Tour, where I saw an interview with lead singer Phil Etheridge who said they were great because they just wrote "bloody good tunes, that's all it is."

And he wasn't wrong. Despite getting some critical grief, I think the first album's got some of the best tunes of the year on it. So why, oh why, do they feel the need to play Drinking in LA?!?

I won't go on about it, except to say that when you can bash out tracks like Two Lovers, The Neighbour, Ice Cream Sundae, Wide Awake, Either Way " the list goes on and on " why are you covering an annoying pop song from 10 years ago?

That aside, The Twang's set at the Brixton Academy last Friday rocked! They're getting a lot of stick at the moment but most of the stick is coming from the same crowd that threw them on top the pedestal last year. It's impossible to live up to that kind of hype but Phil and the lads seem un-perturbed.

They kicked off with The Neighbour which has been a bit of a regular starter for them, and ended with Wide Awake, which was carried on outside the venue for a good while.

The high point of the set was Two Lovers, which is one of my current favourites, and the low point was the moment when I thought they hadn't played 'Drinking in LA' and then they came back to play it for their encore.

Over the last year they've been idolized then crucified by the same lot that once loved them. Kind of like a whole rock'n'roll career in twelve months, really. Let's hope they've got the character to survive it all, cause after Friday I'm right back in the love with 'em.

WRITTEN BY STEVE LAYCOCK