It's a rainy night in North London, and a crowd of A+R people have assembled to take in some new talent. The venue, The Verge, is small and the sound veers between acceptable and appalling, but it's a cosy enough location.

Junk Puppets take the stage first. They're in the unenviable position of playing to an empty room - at this stage, I'm the sole person standing in the middle of the floor. They're not lacking in enthusiasm but at this stage their songs need a bit of work; fuelled by funky Chili Peppers style riffs they have a pleasing groove to them, but have a tendency to blur into one another, as there isn't a lot of distinction between them, and the singer's voice tends to stray into reedy territory. However they do have moments where something seems to fall together comfortably, in no small part due to the excellent guitarist who injects a twist of Hendrix-inspired spiralling melody, upheld by the strong grooves which seem to be JP's speciality. For now, they've got a way to go, but there's potential there.

Hinterland show more instant promise. They have a strong ear for a tune, and proceed to knock out melody after melody. It's essentially uplifting, American-tinged rock, pulled together by powerful vocals and warm, buzzing guitars. It has a slightly clichéd feel to it - it often seems like they've taken the obvious routes through each song, and that, combined with the epic design of many of the songs, creates a somewhat oldfashioned feel to it - to be blunt, it does occasionally feel a little dated. But it's a small, and perhaps harsh criticism; traditionalism aside, they've got a strong collection of passion-driven tunes, friendly charisma, and the musical and vocal ability to separate them from the wannabes and neverweres.

Inimenter's great skill is that they don't settle into one lazy and obvious slot. They have the riffage and noisy blast of nu-metal's frontrunners but thankfully they omit the whine-factor that seems to go hand-in-hand with much of that genre, choosing instead to attack the audience head-on with their secret weapon - Neak's cheeriness. Is there a more cheerful man in the known rock universe? Well.. probably. But he's a cheery bloke nonetheless, and his mood suits the songs - punky pop bullets that don't lose sight of the melody. Liquid, potent basslines, chugging riffs and rhythms that venture beyond the usual safe 4:4 pasture combine to create a sound that is irresistible and deserves much more crowd participation than the industry-comprised audience are prepared to give them. Some of the songs lack the spark they need to ingrain themselves in the memory, but at the present moment it doesn't matter a great deal. However if they want to move up in the world it's something they need to sort out. Sadly the sound lets them down, resulting in muddy guitars that from time to time drown out Neak's vocals. Inimenter seem unpeturbed and, yes, cheerful to the end, as they thrash the life out of their equipment and our ears. Nice.