There was a point when I wasn’t actually going to be able to go to this gig but I’m glad that I did. As we wandered in the place was fairly empty, not unusual at Fuzz Club so early on. After making a pilgrimage to the bar we took up our normal front left, by the pillar position just as This Et Al came on stage. People began to move forward and a few devotees quickly set about dancing around and filling up the space. Rolling through 30 minutes of their thundering indie rock, This Et Al played brilliantly, in spite of a broken guitar string for the first song. Singer Ben sounds a lot like ¡Forward Russia!’s Tom, although not quite as though he’s got his knackers trapped in a vice and he can’t work out how to free himself.

This Et Al are pretty slick, and as they rattled through their grumbly tunes, including my personal favourite Of National Importance, more and more people crowded in to hear some nuggets of brilliance. By the time they played their last song, they had proved their worthiness and wiped the floor with the following band, The Scare (the night was a 4 band bill hosted by Dance To The Radio to promote their new compilation, Something I Learned Today).

I think This Et Al are a bit underrated and under-observed. They seem to fly below the radar a little, but they have a bit of an edge which puts them head and shoulders above so many of the dull indie slackers we’re subjected to all the time. Go see them, you’ll be in for a treat!