Timing is everything in music.

Rewind a few years and Aames would probably have been signed up by a record label already, given that their music bobs along in a vein reminiscent of the Killers down the local disco. It's probably better that they have time to fully develop, as they sound too similar to their influences for comfort.

Singer Ed Crockett poured on enough dramatic gestures to make you believe he was emoting so hard that, good grief, he'd better sing about it, but the songs tended to become overwrought rather than strident.

Headliners Midnight Lion go for the epic too, though with better results. Already signed to Island Records, where they seem to have lingered for a while, this was a reminder of their strengths, namely writing big, soaring pop tunes on synth-led backdrops. The key difference from before is that the duo has swelled to a sextet when performing live, with two members of emerging rock group Fatherson bolstering the numbers.

That ensured the drumming and percussion were extremely loud and there were some truly beefy beats bouncing along throughout. For an act focused on melody this was powerful, noisy stuff, but thankfully there were still swoonsome harmonies present too.

Such noise, however, did not always disguise the fact the band's actual tunes can prove somewhat slight. The worst offender was the dreary Avalanche, but a couple of others were showered in bombast, yet worryingly unmemorable underneath that din.

Still, when they got it right there were some possible chart smashes there.

HHH