The name promises much - X-rated glam wrongness, at the very least - but these pals of Franz Ferdinand are more tease than thrill. They've attained a modest prominence as junior members of the currently sparky Glasgow scene, and bigger things are predicted by bedfellows as unlikely as the NME and the Sun. So they've got it going on, though for the moment "it" merely amounts to a great name and the feeling that they could be much better.

On their debut album, Take the Lovers Home Tonight, their highly-strung glam-punk is a shambles, but coherently so. Its more diverting moments evoke Gary Glitter and Mark E Smith, a pairing long waiting to happen, and if you've ever thought F Me, Mummy, I Feel Ugly would make a good song title, Mother has beaten you to it.

But coherence was at a premium at this midnight show. Their short set was messy, with the five members operating an every-man-for-himself policy. Let's be generous and blame it on the Barfly's spirit-sapping humidity, but the wayward playing meant that Mother's pogo-dancing acolytes were deprived of the melodies burrowing inside the likes of F Me and Oh Yeah, You Look Quite Nice.

A longer term concern is Mother himself, Sam Smith, a skinny eccentric cut from Jarvis Cockerean cloth. His saucer-eyed yapping pushed the right weirdo buttons, but when not actually singing he was the least charismatic thing since, well, ever. It was the oddest trick - between songs, he diminished from nutty yelper to a little guy in a T-shirt who'd accidentally strayed on stage.

The group was at serious risk of being overshadowed by the bassist, Peter Vallely, who was not just brimmingly magnetic but wore a white suit and Panama hat. He would look good decorating a model's arm, and if the Addicts fulfil their potential - one scrappy show can't be held against them - he'll probably find himself on one soon.

· At King Tut's, Glasgow, tomorrow. Box office: 0141-221 5279.