Music: Special Ed and Shortbus

Published on Thursday 21 August 2008 20:48

SPECIAL ED & THE SHORTBUS **** THE SPIEGEL GARDEN (VENUE 87)

BLUEGRASS, old-time, skiffle, jug band … stir them up vigorously, throwing in elements of zany vaudeville , add some unpredictable tics, then stand back and watch Special Ed & the Shortbus go.

And they do, frequently at a high rate of knots, as bluegrass fiddle champion Aaron Lewis, violin tucked beneath his beard, sets the pace with a hell-for-leather breakdown or whining song accompaniment; Josh Bearman and Ben Belcher deftly switch between double bass and nimble banjo, while "Special" himself, singer Ed Brogan, looks serious over his guitar and Jake Sellers keeps things moving on kit percussion and washboard.

All the way from Richmond, Virginia, these guys rarely ease back, either on tempo or manic humour. Tunes range from the all-out traditional of Kitchen Gal or the jug band stomp of Pussyfootin' to a klezmer extravaganza that emerges out of instrumental mayhem to pull off some split-second exchanges between fiddle and banjo. It's also probably the first time you'll hear a fiddle and kazoo duet … from the same player (Lewis). Songs include the lugubrious chorusing of Woa Mule, Paper Chase, the band's energetic bluegrass riposte to the credit crunch, the particularly gormless I Want to Hold Your Ear, or the spooky singalong of There Ain't Nobody Here But Me.

Amid all this, imagine occasional outbursts of harmony singing/farmyard noises and you'll have of an idea of the Shortbus sound, although their spectacularly OTT encore is pretty well indescribable.

• Until 25 August. Today 6pm