Hotly tipped by the critics he doesn’t fail to live up to hype. At only 22 his songs contain the humour, wit and turn of phrase reminiscent of Dylan, or more recently Alex Turner. Obviously the comparison of anyone with Dylan is a bit much, (although ‘the new Dylan’ does come around every other day), as new ‘singer songwriters’ (another phrase that triggers the gag reflex, after being ruined by the recent spate of crap to dominate the charts) go, he’s one of the most exciting around and deserves the acclaim, along with a copy of his LP belonging in everyone’s music library.

With support from Lyrebirds and Le Martells, the night shaped up to be an exciting mix of genres and up ‘n’ comers. Lyrebirds are yet another band to take pretty obvious influence from such acts as Joy Division, and more recently, Interpol, but they pull it off well, with an uplifting but dark set. Happily, unlike many bands who are influenced by Joy Division et al -who create carbon copies of dark post punk songs- they’ve added their own nu wave take (although the lead singers baritone vocals are an exact blend of Ian Curtis and Ian McCulloch of Echo and the Bunnymen).

After Lyrebirds, Eugene McGuinness takes to the tiny stage. Simply him, his guitar and his drummer create an extremely lo-fi sound, but one which is both catchy and enthralling, that you can’t help but move to. With a set consisting of songs from ‘The early learning of Eugene McGuinness’ EP and his debut self titled album, he kicks off with debut single ‘Monsters Under the Bed’, my personal favourite of his, a beguiling merry go round of psychedelic folk pop. He continues to race through his set, with ‘Rings Around Rosa’, ‘Wendy Wonders’ and ‘Nightshift’, all from the debut LP. Next he plays new song, ‘Pick Up Sticks’ and ‘Those Old Black and White Movies Were True’ where his falsetto vocals tell tales of nostalgia and a world that once existed. With ‘Moscow State Circus’, the pace doesn’t stop, keeping up his unique brand of twitchy nu wave folk in most recent single ‘Fonz’ where his crooned vocals overlaying mesmeric guitar and frantic drums work perfectly in creating the perfect twee pop song. His poetic and evocative lyrics tell stories of loves lost, odd escapades and simply bizarre tales that Keats would be proud of. He rounds things off with ‘Atlas’ where he tells of fantasy adventures with the freaks and down and outs he seems to have come across in life, like a 00’s ‘Orwellian’ diary entry .

Despite (some might say) starting with a distinct disadvantage,-seeing that his live show is simply him, his beaten up guitar and his drummer- it doesn’t stop Eugene from creating an absorbing and fascinating set with songs from right across his short career. It’s just a shame that his music hasn’t reached wider audiences.