Spot the odd one out: Kaiser Chiefs, Bloc Party, the Killers, the Futureheads. All four played together a year ago on an NME up-and-coming-bands tour, and three now fill big halls in their own right. The most critically acclaimed of the lot, though, are still at the ones-to-watch stage, playing for discerning hundreds rather than thousands. The Futureheads' disjointed art-pop isn't an easy sell - Noel Gallagher declared them "weird" when the Sunderland quartet supported Oasis last summer - and offbeat gigs such as this one, in a former church, make that clear.
Having said that, "weird" is in the ear of the beholder, and a member of Oasis is likely to have a low weirdness threshold. The Futureheads have simply hit on a striking way of lacing together adenoidal agitation, lustrous four-part harmonies and college-lecturer suits. (The studious trousers and leader Barry Hyde's avuncular jumper were curiously apt in this setting, with its memorial plaques to Victorian sailors who died in the siege of Sebastopol.) The band's sole visit to the top 10 so far was one of the freshest singles of 2005, despite being a cover version (of Kate Bush's Hounds of Love, a song that now seems more their property than the original author's). Theoretically, they only need a few grabby choruses to match the success of the not-dissimilar Franz Ferdinand.
That may not be on the cards yet, though, on the evidence of songs from their second album, News and Tributes. It was previewed here in its entirety, and while it's brimming with interesting time-changes and incongruously beautiful harmonies, it won't make Noel Gallagher change his mind. Back to the Sea, rumblingly sung by guitarist Ross Millard, is a funk number shot through with wiry guitar that jabbed you in the sternum, and tonight that was one of the catchier ones. The rich blend of voices on Skip to the End vied with Gang of Four-like guitar stabs, and even the familiar Hounds of Love, yelped in unison by the whole house, felt more art installation than pop song. Not weird, but definitely challenging.
