If Palladium were a club rather than four charity-shop fops with guitars, they would be Madame Jo-Jo's, a Soho cellar whose main attractions are an abundance of gilt and an ingrained naughtiness. Where better to stage a gig that could be a turning point for the band? Only a year old, they have been bubbling under all summer, and things are set to step up a gear with the release of a single, High 5, and a support slot next month with kindred spirit Mika.

The buzz around them fills the club with both the committed and the curious - the former recognisable by hairdos that clearly took time and effort. In terms of flair, though, no one comes close to Rocky (drums), Rufio (keyboards), Rostas (guitar) and, um, Pete (vocals), whose spikes, gold beads and golf visors dare you to laugh.

Luckily for them, there is pop gold under the tat. All four are music-college graduates, which accounts for the slick playing and a textural richness that recalls Fleetwood Mac and Toto. Where they diverge from their classical training is in the theatricality that overhangs the music like a cloud of dry ice. The drama is ratcheted up by Pete, who has the warble of Bros's Matt Goss and the flamboyance of Freddie Mercury. Twittering through the eight-song set, he becomes increasingly overwrought. Sweeping through a finale of High 5 and Get It Right, he sings the lush choruses as if he were on stage at La Scala.

Silly? Camp? Undoubtedly, but given the choice between them and the Pigeon Detectives, I know who I'd rather see.

· At Fibbers, York, tonight. Box office: 01904 651250. Then touring.