Following support from his brother Jack (sounding not a million miles away from Jonathan Richman) and Edinburgh's own Withered Hand, Jeffrey Lewis and band take to the stage for a hurried soundcheck. He continues to half-ironically hone the audio levels throughout the set, promising it would all come together for one perfect song at the end. In fact there’s more than one perfect song, such as the singalong whimsy of Roll Bus Roll.

This leads a convoy of material from latest album ‘Em Are I, but a spoken word rap about murdering mosquitos and the narration of his own dog-eared drawings are the elements that make this unlike any ordinary gig. One such story being a pulp detective novel parody with some sordid saxophone shenanigans.

What’s really special about Lewis is his lyrical flair - as most dramatically evident on the awe-inspiringly wordy Willamsburg Will Oldham Horror - but he and his brother clearly enjoy thrashing out garage punk numbers like Posters and Time Machine even more. Whilst these are the weakest on record, they are an ideal counterpoint here to his more thoughtful side, and End Result from his record of Crass covers tops things off in an appropriately sardonic way.

For The Skinny

Image: Dylan Matthews