Dead Cat Bounce...Too Fast For Love

Opening their set, this Irish comedy-rock foursome promise that the audience will tell their children about this gig. They won’t, but they might tell their friends.

And not because of the music. The parodies of boybands, hard rock mixed metaphors and rap double entendres never truly nail their targets. Their other tracks, despite having a keen eye for humour in the mundane, frequently lapse into meandering, unfunny conversations and then stop, rather than end. Providing a running commentary to their lyrics is a nervous tic which, like the titular feline, gives ever diminishing returns. In isolation, the songs simply aren’t very listenable.

Their stereotypical stage personas are clearly established: fanciable but egotistical frontman; strange, put-upon drummer; hairy, hard-rocking bass player; keyboardist who wears a waist-coat. Unlike the 'method' character acts of Flight of the Conchords or Spinal Tap, this is a theatrical, light entertainment routine. Deviating even slightly from the script tends to totally crash the show. These numbers ultimately win over the audience, entirely due to the band’s forceful likeability. What's more, although the need to divide up lyrics equally results in some filler, the best songs are tied directly into their characters.

Dead Cat Bounce won't be dominating anyone's iPod, and neither will tonight's audience sing their future offspring to sleep with 'Christians in Love' or '10-Foot Picture of Me'. There is little enjoyment to be had from the band after the fact but, if you can catch them live, there are worse ways to rock out.