It would have been quite easy to just call it a day and head off home after viewing the national football team's latest shambolic escapades in Tel Aviv this evening.

Certainly anyone would be forgiven for being slightly unenthusiastic about continuing the usual Saturday night pursuits, and even a few expensively glittery fireworks heralding the re-opening of Nottingham's Market Square can't raise a smile.

Of course not everyone gives a toss about eleven overpaid ‘sportsmen’, and judging by the vigour and general excitement emanating from hyperactive frontman Craig Bishop, the word England probably means nothing more than a place of birth stamped on a passport. Once upon a time it would have been difficult to tell Dirty Tux apart from any number of countless Arctic Libertines, but over the past twelve months their development has been quite staggering. Where they'll be heading come 2008 is anyone's guess.

Older songs like 'Complex Sex' and 'Regal' now sound more visceral, taking on a decidedly spiteful tone to rival their obvious pop stylings, even if they are essentially misleading as to the rest of the band's output.

Because, quite simply, the four new songs given an airing tonight could each have been written by a different band entirely, from the Mary Chain-esque stomp of 'Nightmare' and the edgy-yet-random snarl of 'Martin' to the incandescent scenester-baiting set finale that is 'Columbian Marchin' Powder'. Everything suggests Dirty Tux haven't merely escaped the Britrock pigeonhole, they've boarded down the hatches and locked the shutters once and for all.

Whilst it would be unfair to say Dirty Tux are the finished article, they're taking giant strides in the right direction. With a little more refining, the road ahead seems anything but rocky.