TO describe the effect of Hot Against The Cold taking the stage at Bar 1:22, the only word you need is ‘electric’. The band rallied the crowd forward with the fantastic opener ‘Any Song’- their youthful energy invigorating the whole room from the very first note to hit the air.

Hot Against The Cold have the luxury of a very distinctive sound which mixes the contemporary influences of their youthful peers with a very classic pop feel. It’s unusual to hear a young band these days which has such an aptitude for the quality of a good vocal melody. It’s refreshing to hear Hot Against The Cold make this a vital component of their own song writing process. It also helps immensely that they have a vocalist who can actually hold a note-a rarity it seems amongst many of today’s unsigned bands.

Original songs played tonight include an ode to Yorkshire’s own Arctic Monkeys with both the oddly-danceable ‘Weasel’ and the cheeky upbeat ‘Step On You’. It’s all very quintessentially English youth with topics ranging from the upbeat to the downright menacing. There are of course moments of standard indie fare such as ‘Crash N Burn’, but, with the band having such a flair for melody, even these begin to hold their own.

The band are a fantastically cohesive unit with every member trying, not just to raise each other’s game, but challenging the crowd to raise theirs too. To say that this band is tight would be an understatement. The drumming throughout the whole night was stellar, and actually in synch with the bass and guitar as opposed to drowning them out (another rarity on the unsigned scene). The mix tonight, for the most part, is spot on, emphasising a fullness of sound that most unsigned acts fail to achieve.

Yet with a set that is evenly split between covers and originals, perhaps there is a fair point to make about an over reliance on covers to really keep the crowd moving; but then again this would really be splitting hairs. The choice of covers was remarkably innocent, with some usual predictable inclusions, ‘Use Somebody’ by Kings of Leon being a firm crowd favourite. But there were also some surprises such as ‘Hurt’ by Johnny Cash. Still, in the main, the covers mixed well into the set and further complimented the band’s own material.

Hot Against The Cold have shown tonight that they can certainly put on a show. The on-stage banter, electricity and crowd interaction could not have been much better. But with an overture of ‘college band’ naivety inevitably still overshadowing them, it remains to be seen if they can make the transition from youthful potential to emerging regional talent.