Anybody convinced guitar rock has had its day should see Louis XIV before their European our comes to an end.

This is a band with attitude, gamour, a fabulously sleazy sound and a record people can already sing along to in Finding Out True Love Is Blind.

Lead singer, guitarist, bassist and producer Jason Hill took to the stage at Concorde 2 looking like a demented, chain-smoking wedding guest, wearing a snazzy grey suit and tie which somehow looked stylish under his disturbing haircut, which bordered on being a mullet.

Hill apparently believes himself to be the reincarnation of the debauched 17th-Century French monarch Louis XIV and named the San Diego based band after him.

The confidence showed and the band strutted on the stage with a performance at times bringing back memories of Eighties rockers Kiss, with back-to-back guitar playing and fingers pointing in the air as at least one song reached its climax.

A lesser band would have been laughed off the stage but Louis XIV held the crowd captivated.

They make an astonishing sound together and barely put a note wrong during the entire set, despite allowing a refreshing degree of spontaneity.

If they can keep up their momentum they should have great things ahead of them, starting with the release of their debut album The Best Little Secrets Are Kept on October 17.

By contrast East London's The Rakes sounded like just another English band pumping out the same tired old post-Oasis which fills the airwaves all day, every day.