Don't make me go to the Dark Place

Being crowned "Best Event in Sunderland" isn't exactly an achievement, but it has to be admitted that the line-up the Futureheads have assembled for next month's Split Festival is decent (if a bit parochial), featuring as it does themselves, PiL, Future Of The Left, Field Music, Pulled Apart From Horses. Almost enough to make going to Sunderland seem appealing, but not quite.

The Futureheads are fresh from an a cappella gig in Durham Cathedral on Saturday night in support of recent album Rant - fitting, really, as the original meaning of "a cappella" is "in the manner of the church". They've come a long way since gigs in dingy upstairs rooms in Birmingham.