Mark Heelis predicts great things for Brighton rock duo Royal Blood

A victorious Royal Blood exit stage right, the air fizzing with feedback and rapturous applause. Their arms are aloft, saluting the crowd at the end of their 40 minute assault on the Art Bar, their battle in the (former) Bully has been won.

The Brighton duo have had an incredible start to the year. Tipped by the BBC as part of their ‘Sound of 2014’, championed by the Arctic Monkeys (who they open for at their huge summer Finsbury Park shows) and soon to depart on the annual NME Awards Tour showcase event with Interpol and Temples.

Their sold out Oxford show was the final night of an 11-date tour for Royal Blood and they soon will be ascending to much more stately venues than the small and sweaty Art Bar.

Before Royal Blood though, fellow Brighton based noisy upstarts Tigercub are teleporting us back in time to the early 90’s. However this is not the 90’s which has been the subject of recent Britpop reunions. This is early 90’s west coast grunge, complete with floppy fringes. Tigercub lead singer Jamie Hall also wears their influences proudly - prowling the stage in his retro Sonic Youth ‘Goo’ T-shirt.

Hall’s snarly, gravelly vocals are perfectly pitched on the stomping Centrefold, the standout track on the three-piece’s bold and bruising set which also includes Little Rope and Mother, both distinctively nodding to Pixies, Nirvana and Silverchair.

By the time Tigercub finish their set, the Art Bar is full to the rafters, with the crowd eagerly anticipating the arrival of Royal Blood. There is a distinct lack of red carpet to signal their arrival, however I'm sure they would have it black if they had the choice.

Obvious comparisons have been drawn to the White Stripes and Drenge, recent winners of the NME Best New Band Awards. But there the comparisons stop as Royal Blood have their own agenda which is crushing critics with an incredible wall of riff-heavy rock.

The duo (Ben Thatcher on drums and Mike Keer on bass and vocals) create a sound that belies their skeleton staff. On Loose change Keer throttles a range of sounds out of his bass, while Thatcher beats his drum kit to a pulp.

Figure it out shows their Led Zeppelin and Queens of the Stone Age influences, while heavy hitting closer Out of the black ignites the touch paper in the crowd. A triumphant set, and for this duo the bright lights are already calling.