BAND OF THE DAY: THE AFTERNOON GENTLEMEN

For the benefit of any non-British readers, here's a phenomenon you may be unfamiliar with: the British have always been notoriously critical of their own. We take great delight in denying the things our own do and celebrating similar achievements in foreigners, almost as if we're uncomfortable with success or attention. If there's one fast and noisy band in the UK whose litany of crucial releases and stalwart road slogging can't be ignored with our usual disdain, it's Leeds powerviolence/grindcore filthpack the Afternoon Gentlemen.

Forming a good few years before fast angry music became cool again, White Ace-swilling bus station-dwellers The Afternoon Gents' recent history is a stamp of quality: Bloodshed Festival and Lille Winter Grindfest in 2010, and a bunch of awesome discs – including the noisy, Despise You/Hatred Surge-like assault of their 2010 'Pissed Again' 7”and their 2011 split with Canada's OSK – both of which you should pick up sharpish – and looming on the horizon is the mighty Obscene Extreme!

Vocalist Rich (who's also in the North East's high pitched Joe Pesci) even subbed for a couple of Insect Warfare's reunion dates in the UK, so regardless of whether you think that whole event was a triumph or a travesty, respect where it's due, eh?