Bullet Union, on before the major-label mob, are tonight’s unsung heroes. With a new, eponymous debut album out later this month (through Leeds-based label Jealous), the London quartet have tightened themselves into an outfit of frightening conviction. Ramshackle shows are a thing of the past; from now on, the charm that carried them through their earliest performances is to be replaced by a dogged determination to hammer all in attendance into bloody submission. Drum skins barely last the distance; guitar strings strain to bear the brute force of the fingers that lay siege to them - this is tonight’s Punk Rock 101, referencing the Dischord sound of old and remoulding it into an exciting, passionate, progressive future. The Explosion’s popped-up take on the class is little more than Steps to these re-educated ears, and whilst the Bostonians provide more in the way of visual thrills, their music is no more than Sunday league punk when compared to Bullet Union’s upper tier league leaders. What they do, they do well, but what’s come immediately before them this evening does it better.

All bands have a time; on tonight’s evidence, Bullet Union’s is nigh, if not quite right now. Maybe they need some posters, or something, to push things forward…?