The whole Hertfordshire scene, touched on by this very paper and championed by NME not so long ago, has continued to grow it would seem.

With Late of the Pier earning rave reviews for their debut album and Enter Shikari and Saving Aimee making it a St Albans double as they tour together, it was left to Model Horror to fly the flag for Hitchin and Letchworth at their biggest show to date: Friday’s Club NME night at Koko.

The five-piece did not let anyone down. Model Horror bombed through a collection of urgently spiky punches of pop, with highlights including ‘Stand Still’ and the room-filling ‘Lead The Way’. The anticipation created by the synth-heavy intro of opener ‘Folio’ had the dancefloor ready to explode as soon as the drums dropped. The band now face a challenge: having established themselves, can they set themselves apart from the likes of Foals, Does it Offend You, Yeah? and LOTP to become something more that faded blur in a scene rich with electronic art-rock? They put on a damn good show here, but that challenge stands as the next hurdle for Model Horror.

Joe Tyler