CHECK OUT THE PHOTOS FROM THE SHOW HERE.

Afrirampo are my new favourite band. Inhabiting a middle ground between schizophrenia, Japanese school girl mange and rocking party punk, this two-piece have been listed by All Tomorrow’s Parties founder Barry Hogan as having one of the two best live shows he’s ever seen at an ATP event (the other being Lightning Bolt). Let me tell you, they live up to the hype.

Attacking their instruments like a Mongol horde, these two girls explode over the stage, with insane drumming and heavy-as-lead guitar riffs that make you want to jump and smile, then get down and thrash. They jumped into the crowd, bounced on the haunches saying “Kangaroo”, before hugging random strangers and saying “Koala”. Returning to the stage, the guitarist jumped on the drums as the drummer held a wine glass up to the mic giving us a feedback solo before mounting the kick drum and playing furiously in some impossible positions.

I’m in love. I proposed.

Next up was Dead Meadow, and these guys rock. No scrap that they RAAWWWKK! Having apparently been raised on a steady diet of Black Sabbath and bong hits, I’d say someone should tell them it’s not the – œ60s anymore, but that might get in the way of how fucking awesome they are. The drummer has what might be the best moustache in music, next to Nick Cave and Jesse – œElectric Boots’ Hughes from the Eagles Of Death Metal. He drums just like John Bonham: furiously and feverishly, moustache aflame.

The guitarist was straight up channelling Clapton and Hendrix as he soloed through a fuzzy wall of wah-wah and reverb, while he and the bassist passed a bottle of Jim Beam back and forth, pretty much finishing it within their set. Their heavy riffs, rocking grooves and solid timing and pace all came together to make some of the most visceral and immediate live shows I’ve seen in some time. If you missed these guys at ATP, be sure to YouTube them and check them out for yourself. Same goes for Afrirampo.

Fuck Buttons closed the show and it’s obvious why Mogwai’s John Cumming and Shellac’s Bob Weston chose to work with them on their debut Street Horrrsing. Sounding like…well, a lot like Mogwai’s more indulgent – œCorgan times’ (i.e. when someone spends way too long on their delay, like Corgan at V Fest last year), The Fuck Buttons crafted a full and deep landscape of sonic fuzz, peppered with tribal drumming and some Gameboy sounds.

Standing facing each other on stage, they were perfectly in synch, bouncing to the beats floating through the ethereal smoke and laser-filled space that was the Oxford Art Factory that night. They masterfully nurtured the set through to a thundering conclusion that left all of us quivering in our booties – made all the better by the fact that they were close enough to touch.