Knowing what to wear when travelling is often a tricky business. One French guest at château Mac Uaid thought that he was the height of London chic when he hit Soho sporting his Burberry check shirt. This was at the time when the easiest way to identify who had the ASBO on your street was to spot the Burberry wearers. Andrew Cedermark of New Jersey band Titus Andronicus made a similar misjudgement when he took to the stage at the Hoxton Bar and Kitchen last night with his Oasis t shirt. Why would anyone want to be reminded of a band that last recorded anything half useful in about 1995 and hasn’t had the decency to go away? From where I was standing he also seemed to have a FDR badge stuck on his guitar strap. Watch out for Lily Allen appearing in a Harold Wilson t shirt.

At first glance there should be much to dislike about a band that calls itself Titus Andronicus and has tracks on its debut album “The Airing of Grievances” called “Albert Camus” and “Upon Viewing Brueghel’s “Landscape with the Fall of Icarus””. On the other hand if you were in The Arthur Clement Hilton Band, had a song that rhymed “Albert Camus” with “wooden shoe” and contemplated doing an album based on Paradise Lost you are on pretty thin ice.

The songs and the performance belie the wilfully pretentious quality of some of the titles. Andrew’s singing style on stage owes much to Shane MacGowan’s incoherent angry shouting drunk period and, though you are lucky to pick out one word in ten, is a joy to hear. Projected behind the band as they play are photographs, paintings and drawings from the American Civil War and the violent energy of the music seems to draw inspiration from it. The band’s first album has just been released and they want to do one based on the Civil War. This is probably a mistake.

Titus Andronicus have brought something new and exciting to the American garage punk scene. For confirmation listen to the eponymous single. Watching them thrash out their short set last night was a real thrill and while they are maybe just a little too confrontational to hit the big time if you like your music loud and angry they are the band for you.

By the way readers of a certain vintage with an extensive record collection looking for a career change might want to consider becoming a DJ in ultra trendy Hoxton. Songs played in the interlude included The Television Personalities, The Mekons and The Fall. Spooky.