Friday 20th May - The Music with Youth Group at Asylum By Andy Dykes

It's hard to believe that Asylum at Hull University Union could be full of students, all suited, booted and blind drunk celebrating at the end of year ball. Now that the summer break has hit and the university is all but devoid of students, it's great to see that there is still a huge crowd at the venue tonight to welcome The Music. The indigenous movers, shakers, rockers and rollers of Hull are out in force tonight, packing out Asylum to show their support for the lads from neighbouring Leeds.

First on tonight are Youth Group. Youth Group sound like a little like Doves but with a frontman who can sing. Regularly cracking out the acoustic guitar, their speciality is the thinking fan's power ballad - atmospheric and technical, but at the same time impassioned and dripping with emotion. Against this backdrop of slightly wussy angst, these guys actually rock pretty hard. As they leave the stage to squealing feedback I make a mental note to check these guys out further. I also freely acknowledge the injustice of the Doves comparison.

As the lights go down The Music swan on to a theatrical musical accompaniment and, doused in delay, shred through an adrenalised Take the Long Road and Walk It. Bustin' his funky moves and throwing some stellar shapes, frontman Robert Harvey leads the baying crowd through a good half of The Truth Is No Words and then suddenly... ...It sounds as if someone's put a bowl of Rice Crispies too close to a microphone. As the sound turns from musical ecstasy to snap, crackle and pop, the band look around bewildered before leaving the stage.

Is that it? 5 minutes, some guy bellows down a working mic on stage and it looks like the good people are just going to have to wait.

Sure enough, the band return to the stage and restart The Truth Is No Words. With the band having lost their zeal a little, and with the guitar now far too quiet, it takes the duration of this song and the subsequent Freedom Fighters for everything to fall back into place. But fall back into place it does and the band are back and rocking like horses for the rest of the set.

Sounding like all the best bits of Jane's Addiction, Led Zeppelin, Kyuss and Rhinocerose - the vocals and the atmospherics, the blues, the riffs and the organic dance beats - The Music sound like bona fide rock stars but look perhaps like the most down to earth band on the planet.

Among the fashionistas of the garage rock movement, these guys stand out as a no frills antidote, dressed in an array of non descript baggy t-shirts, jeans and jumpers. Even their behaviour on stage reeks of modesty and an almost geeky dedication to creating the best music they possibly can.

While Robert Harvey struts his stuff like the rock Jay Kay, he is flanked by the almost statuesque bassist Stuart Coleman and guitarist Adam Nutter while behind them all, drummer Phil Jordan plays a perfect gig.

Set highlight is an impeccable Getaway that turns the tiring crowd back into a bouncing, pulsing throng of human energy. It's truly impressive stuff. There's no encore, none of the will they, won't they come back on bravado. They simply finish their set, wave goodbye and leave and I like that. There seems to be no bullshit, no pretence with this band.

And so, if The Music be the food of love, let's eat. That doesn't mean anything. But it sounds like it should. The boys done good. www.themusic.uk.com www.youthgroup.com.au

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