dECAL

dEcal are one of those bands that do things right. Not giving a flying fig for column inches, trendy labels or hairdressers, they've quietly and very

definitely grown into something worthy of all the above. And with their new album headed for a release on Mike Paradinas aka Mu-Ziq's label and their 12"s finding favour with the likes of Andy Weatherall and Dave Clarke, it's only bloody right that the Temple Bar Music Centre is so full.

Now, confession time. Hotpress (like quite a few others) arrived a little too late to catch all but one track of the 'early' set. Perhaps not representative of the band's new leftfield direction, the track in question combined manic drum and bass rhythms with impressive walls of feedback (cue much grinning from Denis dEcal). hotpress was reliably informed that the rest of the set was "good".

Their 'late' set, reflecting their more usual electro/techno sound, was, quite simply, devastating. Reflecting a more open-minded approach than a lot of their peers, their use of breakbeats and teasing breakdowns with 4/4 rhythms and tricky electro beats easily rival

anything heard in Dublin's clubs this year.

Tight, fluid and exciting live; innovative, resolute and exciting on record, 2002 could see dEcal land in the one place they'd probably rather not be – the limelight.