With just 85 days left until Big Ben chimes out the remaining seconds of 2006, if there's one thing you should do before the year is out it is go and see Lovvers. Not since At The Drive-In stole the show at the 2000 Carling Festival has this reviewer wet his pants or inhaled the contents of his own windpipe so many times in twenty minutes.

But saying that, the supporting cast weren't bad either. Six months ago, The Exploits Of Elaine were in serious danger of being forever labelled as just another Mogwai-loving post-rock ensemble. Fast forward to October '06 and whilst the same four bodies are sat, nervously I might add, with various pieces of equipment ranging from what looks like a sitar to (no, is it really?) a wok strewn at their feet, the sounds they are making are a million miles away from anything they'd previously attempted. If marks out of ten were given for bravery, The Exploits Of Elaine would score a mighty eleven, as the three pieces of music that encompass their set range from barbershop quartet harmonies to contemporary zither music, if ever there was such a thing. In places, the fact no one knew what was coming next, including the band members, made for a surprisingly exciting, if at times shambolic, set.

Birmingham's Omatic upped the noise levels somewhat after the opening act. Although their songs are anything but straightforward - jagged riffs and off-kilter rhythms punctuating every half-a-minute - the fact that their sound is quite reminiscent of someone like Les Savy Fav or even a less-danceable Dismemberment Plan means that, in actual fact, what they are doing is pretty much the norm for a band so obviously at ease with making disjointed, freeform-jazz-with-punk-ideals melodies. What makes them stand out though is their singer's softly accentuated, yet high-pitched, tones, which provide the missing link between Jeff Buckley and King Diamond.

Next up are Cats And Cats And Cats. Darlings of the post rock/experimental scene for a while, and occasionally derided as being more style over substance in a genre that has become saturated with time. Whilst it would be hard to lavishly praise them with any kind of square wheel invention, their violin-led noise rock contains an incisive mix of power and poise that keeps the punters interested for the entire duration of their set, culminating in the colossal 'Kites', which, even by the standards set by the likes of Explosions In The Sky and Godspeed!, is sure to be raved about as a classic of its kind in years to come.

So far so good, but then, after approximately 28 seconds of opener 'A Good Book', the evening just got ridiculously better. At least tenfold. You see, Lovvers are one of those bands who are hard to define as far as genre segregation goes. Hardcore? Post-hardcore? Math-rock? Avant garde something? I dunno? And ultimately, who cares? When you've a frontman as engaging - no, make that terrifying - as Sean Hencher there really is no need for definitions.

With hindsight, I suppose the stalls were set while the band were hastily setting their gear up: as amps were being plugged in by the other band members, Hencher was salivating into a pint of lager, hurriedly slurping the contents down, before gobbing the lot in a heap at the front of the stage.

As for the show itself, there is no stage big enough for Hencher, who spends the majority of Lovvers' set leaping around the audience in an uncontrollable manner that doesn't really subside until the final bars of 'Let's Communicate' end the set. Pint glasses and tables are broken - I've still got a bruise on my leg to prove it - and clothes are drenched in a shower of sweat, spit and beer. But boy, is it worth it.

Highlight of the set is undoubtedly the Sonic Youth with hardhats and DayGlo jackets noise romp 'Parents', dedicated to someone called Martin as a leaving present, which tears the house down by removing the skirting boards and curtain rails one by one first.

If there is any justice - and occasionally there is - this band will be bigger than Manuel Uribe Garza's ever expanding gullet by this time next year. Remember their name: Lovvers. As in "spreading the lovve". Only with 2 vs - one for violent and the other for visceral. Unmissable.