Named after almost defunct gadgetry, VHS or Beta are one of many 1980s-influenced bands who have received increased attention following the huge success of Franz Ferdinand. However, this quartet formed (in Louisiana) in 1997, reared on singer-guitarist Craig Pfunder's Japanese punk, Echo and the Bunnymen and Gang of Four. All painfully hip influences now, of course, but three years ago VHS or Beta recorded Le Funk, an album steeped in the then-vogueish Francophile sounds of Dimitri From Paris.

Perhaps they have leapt from one bandwagon to another but, in not leaving the first behind, they have come up with an intriguing hybrid. Like this year's Night on Fire album, this pulsating set showcases 1980s pop with a 21st-century dance chassis. It's Duran Duran and the Cure dragged down to the disco by Daft Punk, which confuses some followers who are unsure whether to throw stern New Romantic poses or gurn and punch the air.

The band know their stuff. Some of the 1980s trademarks are so of the period that anyone unfamiliar with Modern Romance B-sides wouldn't know they ever existed: slap bass, vocoder, a guitar that sounds like a cat miaowing and, most impressively, bassist Mark Palgy's 1982 QPR footballer mullet.

Dodgy barnets aside, the effect can be rather dreamy, not least when Pfunder coaxes the crowd into joining in the line "We will light the night on fire", perhaps creating a new generation of arsonists. Their habit of segueing songs together gives the gig the feel of a late-night disco, an effect enhanced when Pfunder invites the crowd on stage. Unfortunately, he loses his guitar lead in the melee, but soon holds it up in triumph, and gets back in the groove.

· At 93 Feet East, London E1, tonight. Box office: 020-7247 6095. Then touring.