Japandroids @ The Garage, Glasgow, 30 Apr

The support for tonight's show, Dasher, set an immediately intense tone with their powerful, grungy guitars, extremely prominent drums and heavy vocals. Feedback fills the room and the resulting squall is both suffocating and intoxicating. Their presence lingers on after the band have left and the atmosphere is a little tense for a while.

When Japandroids arrive, however, the mood is quickly transformed and their streamlined brand of indie/garage/noise-rock strips away all the pretensions that bands with a 'fuller' sound sometimes accumulate. This is Celebration Rock, pure and simple, the most apt name for a Japandroids record and one that perfectly encapsulates what they're all about.

The opening one-two punch of Near to the Wild Heart of Life and Fire's Highway get the crowd going and sets a high bar very early. Unfortunately, given the limited amount of variation possible with drums and power chords, their music can become a little same-y, especially when playing some of the deeper cuts like Heart Sweats or newer ones; Midnight to Morning being a prime example. This creates a bit of a lull in the middle portion of the show that zaps some of the energy from the room.

The crowd also struggle to maintain the manic exuberance of the two opening songs and, with the exception of Younger Us, it's only the dedicated die-hards going for it in this midsection lull. However, a strong closing run, starting with The Nights of Wine and Roses, culminating in The House That Heaven Built, electrifies the room and demonstrates how untouchable this band are when it all comes together.

The audience response is so good that the band return for their first encore of 2017, treating the baying mob to roaring, unrehearsed renditions of Adrenaline Nightshift and Evil's Sway, cementing Celebration Rock's reputation as their most well-received album, and the band's reputation as a powerful live force.