Empty Vessels make the most noise, so the proverb goes, but have you ever stopped to wonder why the vessels were empty? Could it be that some hedonistic young fools have drunk or snorted the contents? I think so. In the grand rock tradition, the first Empty Vessels demo was recorded under the influence and their first gig powered by powder: "we took a lot of cheap wizz and it just regressed from there."

Empty Vessels are Matt and Marco and producer Ed. "We're trying to persuade Ed to the join the live band to get rid of the Pet Shop Boys, Soft Cell, 80s vibe." It's not clear quite what 80s vibe they're talking about. The two most recent demo tapes have sounded variously like the late 90s Fall and Jim Morrison karaoke night at Studio 54.

"That was an attempt to find our more polished, accessible side" Matt says inexplicably, of new song Death Day which runs "We're all going to die, die, die, die." The track went down well with the 16-year-olds who turned up en masse at a Bull & Gate gig (and were never seen again, mysteriously) but Matt didn't want to distress them, so he added "don't tell the kids, now" to the rhythm of Who Let The Dogs Out?

It's fair to say that Empty Vessels are not your average band. They formed as a reaction against the clinical trip hop precision of their previous band with the intention of making a shambolic racket. Until the recent polished, accessible demo. "Yeah, that sounds really slimy and careerist, doesn't it? But we're happy with the music and if we had to make some kind of mealy-mouthed compromise just to succeed we'd give up."

Yeah, yeah, just wait til the man from EMI comes knocking. "Ha Ha! We'll be there with our tongues hanging out and our suits on. But until then, we'll have our integrity." Best catch them now, then.

Real Audio and MP3 downloads are available from www.emptyvessels.co.uk