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Animalhouse succeed

The Garage, London, Tuesday 4 July

Which ex-Ride songwriter would you rather be? Andy Bell, frontman of watered-down Oasis copyists Hurricane #1 and now bassist in a watered-down Oasis, or Mark Gardener, who, er, hasn't done much really? Bell's had more fame but Gardener's kept his reputation. And Gardener, of course, has new band The Animalhouse, which is something very much worth having.

It's Ride, but not as we know it. That's obvious just by looking at them, as Gardener's cut off his trademark indie boy floppy hair. Without a mop to look moody behind, he gazes straight at the crowd, smiling (as opposed to pouting) cheekily, and, as if to banish all ghosts of shoegazing (or perhaps to emulate a speed-crazed nodding dog) he, along with the rest of the band, moshes like the rock star he's never been.

Such head-waving practices are apt, if a little excessive (all five of them seem to be suffering from Tourette's or a severe nervous tic) as The Animalhouse can rock like Ride after discovering that guitars can make a lot of noise and be played quickly if you don't look at the floor, and realising that some good riffs came out of goth. And it's all done after they've fallen into a vat bubbling with poptastic melody.

So, opener and current single 'Ready To Receive' swirls and weaves as much as the psychedelic visuals, while the gorgeous 'Essence' broods and glimmers like Sneaker Pimps at their best, 'Small' romps along with the energy of something a lot bigger and 'Wasted' funks out Primal Screamadelically. It's varied, unpredictable, and sounds like ten different bands. But in a good way. Still, they don't always get it right. 'Animalhouse', for example, is lumpen rock with bad lyrics. But even so, going back to the original question - Mark Gardener vs. Andy Bell? There's no contest.

WORDS : ALIX BUSKOVIC

PICS : OLLY HEWITT

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