You Me At Six/Young Guns/This City

Man do I want to like This City. Song by song I do, but the problem is that over a set, or album, they fall in to one long meandering song, punctuated by yelps and similar jaunty guitar stabs throughout. What their aiming for should work- taking the post hardcore of bands like At The Drive In and Fugazi and adding a pop sheen to it all. Somehow though, it never quite works.

Obviously, I reviewed Young Guns the other day, so will skip the tonight. Needless to say, however, they kill it.

You Me At Six have come a long way. From a youthful pop punk band that commanded. a huge following but was lacking in the musical crunch or critical respect it seemed they yearned to a potentially world beating band with a top 5 album and the love of almost everyone that crosses their path. It's a startling change from day glow tees and simple pop songs to their smarter more dapper appearance and a second album that clearly has an intentional move to more mature waters. More important than this, tonight shows a band that actually perform with the skill and aplomb of many bands twice their age. It's a far cry from those ragged early performances and justifies the bands move from scene leaders to mainstream contenders. 2010 will be a big year for them.