HARK! Is that a Stiff Little Finger I see before me No, it's just Joyrider, the incendiary band from Northern Ireland, who stand accused of using a suspect device, i.e. the sound of Jake Burns and his Small Erect Digits, in an attempt to shake up the jangly peace and quiet of Britpop. Well, it won't work, not unless Joyrider can get off their one riffola trip and start adding a bit of subtlety and space to their tightly-wound, explosive sound.

At Whelan's last Friday night, the amps were turned up to eleven, and the audience was held back by a barrier of sound which worked better than a squadron of riot police at repelling the crowd-surfers. Into the empty space where the moshpit should have been, the band poured their petrol-soaked songs, lead singer Phil Woolsey rasping his anger and frustration with a disarming but ultimately futile power. This should have been a sweaty Belfast basement in 1978, filled with pogoing punks high on anarchy and rebellion, and not just another Friday night in 1990s Dublin.

As you know, Joyrider caused minor damage to the British charts with their ironic cover of Jane Weidlin's Rush Hour, and this provided one of the highlights of an otherwise one dimensional gig. Some of the songs from the band's album Be Special, also stood out from the usual pedestrian punk, most notably Bible Black Belt.