BEARSUIT/PURPLE MUNKIE/WE BECOME LESS The Venue, Edinburgh, Fri 26th July

You know, a good rock gig these days nearly always boils downto two words - punk rock. Openers.We Become Less are a case in point - though they run through a gamut of genres, including old-skool metal a la Pantera, the usual mathematically-oriented stop/start rhythms, and some subterranean vocals (used on their grundcore/speedmetal closer), the majority of their set is emo, except you can't hear the words. Purple Munkie on the other hand made 2 ep's filled with the kind of joyous spirit which you'd only ever hear in the Buzzocks' back-catalogue. They had a mid career perosnality crisis seemingly with some rather less catchy metal, and tonight, they include early in their set, a slow guitar instrumental (I'll leave you to pigeonhole that one). So it's the oldies like the bouncing 'Queens of...' that win tonight, though with new material like 'Treat Yourself' it's clear that they've not lost their ear for a tune. Bearsuit, if you want to describe them, are the punk rock Belle and Sebastian. They're from Norwich mind (cue shouts of "A-Ha!" from sharp audience member) and they start their set reminding the listener of country cousins Magoo - 30-second songs with no verse, just the one chorus. Steam let off, they get on with the job in hand which is to make the audience smile and sing along at any cost, even if it means flaws in the make-up - instruments not always in time, harmonies sometimes not hitting the mark. However, they can write songs, that's for sure; and always driven along by a manic streak - curious instruments like accordion are employed for a singalong, while choruses - and there are a few - are propelled by a mini-brass section. Not the most punk rock of instruments, I hear you say -but hey, as long as The Kids like it, there are no rules. The Kids loved it.

A rather better-written version of this review originally appeared in The List