August 14

There has been much debate about The Cave Singers.

Their record label, Matador, has been peddling them as neo-folk, while internet blogs have been pondering how former members of punk bands Pretty Girls Make Graves and Hint Hint can possibly be associated with a movement more accustomed to sandals and acoustic guitars.

Tonight's crowd seem equally confused. A mix of Shoreditch scenesters and serious musos, the ales are flowing and there's even a bit of dancing down at the front for support band O'Death.

Like a dirtier, American, Levellers, they whip up the crowd with a set of foot stomping, chaotic, folk-centric punk.

With his audience warmed up, The Cave Singers' Peter Quirk shuffles on stage wearing a vest, drainpipe jeans and a trilby. His wild beard already dripping with sweat, he mutters a hello and gets stuck in.

The Seattle trio have a no nonsense approach to music. Dirty, grimy blues with a rock undertone, it's got sprinklings of the Pixies, Calexico and Gomez, but also recalls the likes of Arlo Guthrie - a million miles away from the other sounds coming out of the birth town of grunge.

Haunting shuffle-stomp rhythms are The Cave Singers' speciality, and they're at their most atmospheric during album favourite Dancing On Our Grave.

Quirk's vocal shifts between a near nasal, wispy drawl to something altogether more raucous. Unlike Guthrie, they steer clear of protest songs, preferring to sneer their hearts out with tales of lost loves. At an earlier show Quirk confessed their debut album, Invitation Songs, was almost entirely written about his ex-girlfriend, which goes someway to explaining the contrast between its remorseful, downbeat feel and its more vengeful, aggressive parts.

The show, like their record, has an unmistakable aura of old time Americana blues. These are whiskey drinking songs, to add further emphasis to this, Quirk cheekily confesses: "I broke my record for drinking gin and tonic before a show. Usually I have 10 - tonight I drank 12..."

So who or what are The Cave Singers? Their audience leaves none the wiser, but one thing's for sure - this is a band doing their own thing, and they're all the more exciting for it.