Raw Power Festival 2011 @ Corsica Studios

New event Raw Power advertises itself as a ‘micro festival bringing the best in proto punk, synth metal, psychedelic freakbeat’ and more. It's genre playful in other words, and so it proves – it may be small but it’s a well curated mix of underground sounds.

And it also stages a real early coup. First we’re nearly brainwashed by Cult of Dom Keller’s Doors / Black Angels psych drones and then it’s surprise special guests Clinic, who clearly have the patent on the key of strange. The veterans hypnotise with wigged out Merseybeat, giving the event the kudos of the askew.

Next up, further variety is provided by Aberwystwyth’s Race Horses who provide excellently overdriven but sunny Super Furries-style eclectic pop. Then it’s Bo Ningen's turn to exhaust the categories, drawing in psych, metal and noise to leave us in a knackered heap on the floor. They’re a mix of absurdity and brilliance, elevating the daft idea of a jam to music with the sweep of quasi-classical music.

US underground headliners Trans Am sign off the night with their tooled-up evil synths, surging metal riffing and slightly shocking machismo. They bring the packed room to a bobbing hedonistic sea.