MALVERN punk band King Monkey continued in its quest for fame and fortune on Saturday night as they supported Swiss group The Peacocks at The Crown.

Supported by a rapidly growing fan base, King Monkey opened the set with the politically incorrect Vegans Have All The Fun. All the usual songs followed, prompting the now standard audience participation during One Eyed Bill. The set, for me, was summed up at the end when a fan ran onto the stage, shrieked "King Monkey rule!" and ran off again.

And so on came The Peacocks. All dressed in black and with rolled-up cigarettes clamped firmly between their teeth, at the very least they looked supremely cool.

The presence of an upright bass (unheard of in punk bands as far as I know) created a stir of interest, but that was nothing compared to the stir when Simon Langhard began to play it.

The man was a blur of virtuosity, somehow managing to bash out extremely complicated basslines with ease while jumping around like a madman.

Hasu Langhart on guitar and vocals and Toni Hilber on drums blended with the bass to create a punk/ska/rockabilly sound that had the whole crowd dancing and cheering at the end of each song.

From a technical point of view, and from a just-sit-there-and-listen point of view, The Peacocks have some impressive musical plumage to display.

Phil Tromans