Hungover seemed, in retrospect, the ideal state in which to watch French collective Nouvelle Vague.

Had we been sharper and more demanding, their loungey, mellow, bossa nova sound would probably have been frustratingly, rather than pleasantly, underwhelming.

Boiled down, they are a simple covers band, albeit with a little more imagination than most, but by some strange alchemy of Gallic cool and musical wit, have managed to persuade people they are more than the sum of these parts.

It is pretty successful on record but was less so on stage when the bright lights unforgivingly illuminated the product.

Their act was both cabaret and comedy - vocalist Melanie Pain didn't miss a trick in her knowingly sweet nursery rendition of the Sex Pistols' God Save The Queen - and musically they had the tight, artfully constructed sound you would expect under the supervision of two producers. What they couldn't bring to the table was any genuine creativity.

While they certainly daub songs with their own hue, the audience's enthusiasm for their cover of Love Will Tear Us Apart was, at heart, for the indestructibly stunning work of Joy Division. Irony has its value but it is no match for love.