Well known for their abrupt sets, King Adora give us almost a whole hour of music this evening, on their forth visit to Portsmouth - their third as a headline act.  With a new single due in January 2003 and an album to follow, King Adora allows us a few early glimpses of what that album will be like.  And it's business as usual, by the sound of things.

Tall, thin, glammed-up Maxi's voice sounds somewhat subdued tonight - maybe a little worn out after many nights of touring.  He still does a half-decent version of his "shouting-like-an-angry-lunatic-football-fan-while-still-keeping-it-all-in-tune" trademarked singing technique.  One of life's modern mysteries: how can King Adora's vocalist be so unattractive in theory on paper, yet carry so much sex appeal onstage?  Maybe we shall never know, but King Adora's energy and enthusiasm for their own material is addictive.

The new material could have been written at the same time as debut album 'Vibrate You' and appears to not deviate from the Pixies/early Manic Street Preachers template too much.  Hell, they've even somehow brought out the tiara and feather boa wearing Manics fans from their Pompey closets tonight.  Maxi probably has a point when knocking New York and Austrailia's cliché-ridden crop (reserving particular bile for The Datsuns), but King Adora's relevance may be questioned by the music press when the long-awaited new album surfaces next year.  At the time of the 'Vibrate You' album, King Adora were the darlings of now sadly defunct Melody Maker, and the New Musical Express still have a habit of trampling on any talent that Melody Maker championed.

Tonight's new material sounded promising, in a "sticking by our guns and doing what we do best" kind of way, but the finest part of the set was hearing two classics, 'Suffocate' and 'Bionic', back-to-back in all their glamorous and angst-ridden glory.  I just hope the UK music press gives them a fair chance when the next album comes out, rather than ignoring them in favour of the current fashionable crop across the pond.  They certainly get full marks for having such beautiful, young fans of both sexes!

Review: Andrew Morrison