Tonight is Bitterscene, a monthly night put on in Chelmsford by a cracking bunch of promoters who are doing it for the passion of music and nothing else. That is the first reason. The second is that Angela Penhaligon aka Piney Gir is in town.

For those of you who have never heard Piney, she is a charming, flowery dress wearing and experimental pop princess whose debut album on Truck Records has been turning a fair few heads. Tonight, backed by A Scholar & A Physician (a band that will be well known by Truck Festival dwellers), Piney is out to convert this small part of Essex to her distinctly unique sound... and boy does she succeed!

Her all too brief set is packed with highlights from the casio-led duet of 'Night Song' (with Ollie Horton filling in for Simple Kid) which rivals Nicole Kidman & Robbie Williams in the lounge act, love song stakes, through to the Marilyn Manson-esque (yes, I DID say that,) synth-rock of 'Jezabel'. With each new moment, she has the crowd eating out of her hand, whether it's when she is showing them her French picture book, nervously swinging her dress, bellowing into her megaphone or allowing her keyboard to play pre-tuned Wham hits as her own songs finish! You see, there is more than meets the eye with Piney. She can produce sickly sweet tunes of love such as 'K.I.S.S.I.N.G.', a country song to rival Dolly Parton with 'Greetings, Salutations, Goodbye' and rock like a banshee, and all in under half an hour.

The band play a one-song encore with a cover of 'My Generation' and then it is over and there is not a single person not genuinely clapping. The former member of Vic 20 has won over this corner of Anglia and based on tonight's performance (as well as her album) it is only the beginning of something very special.