Hot Press New Bands Stage, Sunday 12th July, 4pm

Describe in a Tweet: Boom boom, tsch tsch, twang twang... indie rock!



What happened: Someone above is looking down on the Bombay Bicycle Club today. Four minutes before their first song and the heavens predictably opened up, turning an audience of about forty into roughly a thousand soaked bodies. 

Time for the London four-piece to step up to the plate and show Punchestown what it's made of. Lead singer Jack Steadman belted out the first few lines of 'Dust On The Ground' and any bad thoughts of the god-awful weather were blasted from everyone's soaked heads. He looks young... because he is young, but his voice is a few decades ahead of him. 'Always Like This' is the sort of song your mum would like. Part Vampire Weekend, part Interpol, and everyone ate it up. 

I suddenly noticed something that was one, a rarity at this year's festival, and two, a surprising change. There were absolutely no synths in sight. The synth revolution is alive in the form of Passion Pit, Calvin Harris and Little Boots, but so still lives the bedroom indie dream.

This is a high: Always Like This - I admit, I danced a little.



This is a low: The unwelcome return of questionable weather to Kildare.



Oxegen rating: 7/10