Ever since the Sex Pistols imploded, the word punk has become so stretched it’s fraying at the edges. Bands who play tiny pubs, football stadiums and kids TV shows all proudly describe their music as a variety of punk, with the original days of safety pins and musical incompetence a distant memory. Well, London four-piece Flats bring the early days back, with a set consisting of nothing but knuckle-raw punk.

In their interviews they’ve talked up obscure bands like Swans and Arab On Radar as key influences and say they want to be the kind of band that sends people running from the room if they can’t handle the brutality. No one leaves the Jericho Tavern tonight, but that’s partly because they’re the headliners and mostly because nothing they play is anything other than a bit disjointed.

Sure, every guitar riff that buzzes from the amps is laced with menace and aggression, while the drums and bass clatter along without much thought to each other’s whereabouts in the songs. But the volume isn’t ear splitting nor the band’s stage antics anything to raise an eyebrow over. Their tracks, most of which are two-minute blasts like Top Hat, Big Souls and Are You Feeling Rusty? sound like UK underground punk bands — Crass or Discharge, rather than Napalm Death. It’s worth mentioning that singer Dan Devine is the son of Alan McGee, founder of Creation Records.

Much like his Dad, Devine can talk the talk about wanting to be confrontational, but in reality they’re a much politer proposition. Devine’s closing words in fact are “this is our last one, I hope you like it”. You even end up humming a couple of their tracks on the way home. Flats are not noise terrorists; they’re a shonky punk band whose proclamations are far more extreme than their sonic output.