Lab-4 have always been as a much a rock band as a purely dance outfit, whatever the BPM counter and their regular Return to the Source appearances might otherwise suggest. Which is probably why tonight, in a rare local showing for them, they’ve decided to take their show to the kids at the Kooler Klub, Oxford’s indiest of the indie. It’s further evidence too of Lab-4’s uneven standing in their hometown that, while they can headline 5,000-capacity club nights at Brixton Academy, there are slightly over 100 people here tonight. Hey, people, get with it - this is your premier local dance act, show some respect!

Of course, again typical of Lab-4, they’ve gone and brought an extra PA with them, just so those at the back can have large parts of their brains fried as well. Which of course is the whole point. Cos Lab-4 don’t mess about. True, their squelchy acid-trance isn’t a great evolutionary leap up the dance ladder from early 90s protagonists but it’s done with the stealth and brutality of true masters. Tonight is a launch gig for their new, club-friendly ‘Concept of Love’ remix but live Adam Newton and Lez Elston prefer to go for the jugular, commanding the dancefloor with an hour of non-stop hard-edged techno of the sort that’s seen them as much part of John Peel’s world as Pete Tong’s. And in a subversion of the usual podium floozy, they’ve got their fat mate up on stage with them, cutting shapes like an E’d up footie hooligan.

And, because this is a rock gig, we even get an encore, something of a first for Lab-4 we believe. As far removed from bland Ibiza house as dance is likely to get, Lab-4 should be considered alongside the likes of Nought and Black Candy - who they have remixed lately - rather than anything you’re likely to get offered down at the Coven. It’s dance music, of course, but it’s something rather nastier too.

Marcus Scarman