Another gig, another new venue. I'm not entirely sure of the provenance for this unusual setting. It was billed as a Club Sea Power event, and perhaps was chosen to suit the quirky band identity that BSP carefully cultivate. It's one of the things I like about them, this sense of a personal culture, and they project it well, through clever use of consistent typography and graphics, and with recurrent visual and lyrical themes. On this occasion, the merchandise stall, in addition to a generous half-dozen T-shirt designs, and 'British Tea Power' mugs, had sew-on patches, badges, branded soap and hair pomade, set out amongst selections of biscuits.

This private mythology is infused with elements drawn from wildlife, nature and cartography, combined with a good deal of post-Imperial British militaria, a juxtaposition that conjures up much of the ambience of a well-stocked army-surplus store. I spent a good deal of time exploring similar outlets in my youth, my old scout troop was entrenched in post-war army cast-offs. In fact it struck me on entry that the Polish Club, with it's basement setting, was just the sort of place you'd expect an urban Scout troop to use as a meeting hall. Sporting trophies were hanging alongside unfamiliar embroidered flags on the walls, fold away tables and benches, evidence of plentiful equipment storage. A low stage at one end of the hall, a bar with unfamiliar labels of vodka at the other.

The performance itself was a bit disappointing. The sound wasn't great; after the first couple of songs I retreated from a position fairly close to the front, to hover around the mixing desk where the sound is often more balanced. Sound trouble continued throughout the set, and they ended under the threat of an early cut-off, following noise complaints. Perhaps because this, the band didn't really seem to engage with the crowd. There wasn't much dynamic range, it was all loud and earnest from the start, and didn't really deviate much in tempo or mood. It was entertaining enough, but I felt somehow detached from the whole performance. The stated purpose of this mini-tour was to break in new material intended for a forthcoming album, and it did feel like the majority of the set was unfamilar to me. Still, it was a good opportunity to see a popular live act in a very intimate setting and I enjoyed it on those terms.

The support band on the other hand, were huge, huge fun right from the start. Morton Valence ,a seven piece outfit, at least by my count. Lots of energy, bass guitar chords, analogue synth abuse, handclaps, maracas and loud hailers. And a cover of 'Word Up', sung in what I think was Chinese. I hope I get the chance to see a headline set sometime soon. They don't appear to have any recordings for sale, other than the 7" single that was on offer on their end of the merchandise stall. Vinyl might be cool, but I have no way of playing it these days. They do have a range of mp3 demos on their official site , and streaming from the inevitable myspace page . I'm particularly fond of "Sailors" . Do go and see them if you get the chance.