Sunderland's Futureheads, Leeds' Kaiser Chiefs and now these art rockers from Newcastle-upon-Tyne - there must be something in the water up north.

"Well, it used to be poisonous waste, but I think they've cleaned up the rivers considerably" says Maximo Park's lead man Paul Smith.

"I think there is a quite independent mentality to people making music in the North-East, which stems from the area being virtually ignored, culturally-speaking, for a long time. I think we just want to remain individuals rather than following any trends or 'scenes'."

Being hidden away in the far corner of the country certainly left this bunch of Geordies free to experiment at their gigs without London A&R bigwigs watching their every move.

Cool, creative and independent, they developed a refreshingly raw garage rock sound to accompany cathartic lyrics about small-town boredom, kinky relationships and late-night haunts.

They have also gone a long way to create a style of their own, unaffected by the generic labelling of the record industry's marketing requirements.

Their provocative stage antics include arty habits such as reading books at the same time as giving roaring performances of punky Pulp-style songs.

The five-piece is made up of Tom English (drums), Duncan Lloyd (guitar), Paul Smith (vocals), Archis Tiku (bass guitar) and Lucas Wooller (keyboards), and are named after a public garden in Havana where ageing Cubans spend their afternoons hunched over chessboards. "It is an public area where everyone has an equal voice as they while away the days," says Paul.

Maximo Park recently signed to Warp Records, a label known for being at the forefront of cutting edge music since 1989. Warp is associated with the likes of Aphex Twin, !!! and Vincent Gallo, and even Pulp released a trio of singles on Warp before being catapulted to fame in the mid-Nineties.

It's no surprise, then, that Maximo Park see it as the perfect label to preserve their individual blend of experimental pop and driving powerchords.

"We wanted to remain independent and creative so we chose a company that exemplifies these things," says Paul. "We like to keep ourselves and other people on their toes. Plus, the world is already too obsessed with categorisation and covert rules.

"As far as we are concerned, there's only good music and bad music so the fact that we are on a label known for electronica and we play rock is fairly irrelevant in the grand scheme of things."

Starts 7.30pm, tickets cost £8.50. Call 01273 736222.