It's heartening to see a new and young band that is both thoroughly impressive and thoroughly likeable. Although youthful buoyancy is integral to what they do, there's a maturity about Noah And The Whale, and a sense of having already fully arrived, which makes one wonder where they will be in a few years' time.

While their sound can be categorised reasonably as poppy folk-rock, the appealing breeziness is complemented by a depth of feeling and subtlety of thought, in which the musical details match the lyrical nuances very well. Noah's influences go well beyond Belle And Sebastian, making one appreciate the wealth of diverse musical heritage contemporary acts can productively draw upon, if they have sufficient individual vision to concoct something original: Charlie Fink cites Daniel Johnston, Jonathan Richman and New York anti-folk, Urby digs Tom Waits a lot, while Tom Hobden has a classical background.

When singer-songwriters want to 'develop' beyond the stark intimacy of solo performance, their tendency is to fall into a crater of soft-rock. Starkness not being Noah's bag, for such music to stand out as being more than merely cosy, two qualities are required - interesting musical arrangements, and lyrics that offer more than just boring platitudes about love. Fortunately, Noah score high marks on both marks. Instrumentally, the core band of Charlie Fink (guitar, ukulele, lead vocals, composer), Doug Fink (drums), Tom Hobden (violin) and Urby (bass guitar) was augmented by keyboards, trumpet and trombone, while several members took a turn at the harmonium. The drums were too loud, but otherwise it was a rich and pleasing mix, delicately detailed but robust and unfussy. Charlie's lyrics are mostly about love relationships, but they manage to be sincere, insightful and original: no small achievement with such well-worn subject matter.

The highlights of the evening were the final two numbers. Hit single Five Years Time received a particularly rapturous reception. Thus joyous yet sensitive number has all the characteristics of a pop classic. This was followed by Two Bodies One Heart, in which the audience provided vocals for the refrain. The song serves as a demonstration of Charlie's lyrical style at its best:

Oh place your hands
On my
Heart
Oh I do beleive it's beating
At the same pulse as yours
We're two
Atoms in a molecule
Inseprably combined
Oh like a piece of rope
Made out of two pieces of vine

Oh I feel the bond
Oh between your heart and mine
And it's the bond that won't break
With the displacement of time

Now that's what I call a love lyric.

I wish Noah well, but I'm confident that they'll triumph anyway. In fact, they're triumphing already.