MK Stop 13: Barry And The Beachcombers + Freakishly Long Mirrors @ Fat Lil's, Witney

If you pleased everybody, you'd be old, raggedy and dry. Pummelling that statement into submission are Barry And The Beachcombers, as an entourage of seemingly seasoned, trendy student types fail to comply in their role as supporters, at Fat Lil's box of tricks in Witney, Oxfordshire. Setting up shop with a guitarist shimmied inside a cow suit – or a ram, depending on how the vision holds up, they brew a storm of punk seismology, never rooted to the spot, like an ostrich receiving an electric shock, and certain value for money, not like straining clothes that don't fit. Their ace of spades is closer “Green Cross Code”, but unlike the advertisement, I wasn't intending to cross the road just yet. As they plummet in waterfalls of distortion, to “keep you safe”, this beach is sun-kissed and worthwhile.

Warming the cockles in aftermath are Freakishly Long Mirrors. No, it's not a giraffe's vanity project. Cooking up a hybrid of Radiohead and Pink Floyd, but with a sturdier, percussive lead underpinning, once again it's tough to establish brevity in the lyrics, and besides a crew of casually curious at the front, and the odd, die-hard rocker, the venue is on autopilot before heating up the claps quota near the end. Upping the pace a notch on their second tune, FLM lack a few killer hooks to be essential listening, but are a pleasing distraction nonetheless. Bypassing the stereotypical indie self-pity, like toppled rows of dominoes, the smaller singer's lyrics rub up on the microphone like a preacher man reciting a prayer. Having a game of etcher-sketch with his kit, the drummer outlines angular cymbal crashes in a buccaneering finisher combo of jet-ski guitar and vocals that rise above the murk just enough to be comprehensive. Bin-bag of genre skeleton or rucksack of treasure? The audience are sitting on the fence, but this onlooker is satisfied. And at £3 a ticket, love, for once, does come cheap.

Barry And The Beachcombers: MySpace
Barry And The Beachcombers: Website
Freakishly Long Mirrors: MySpace