The day so far:

• Started off with Local 510 and caught the last song-and-a-half from Cavaliers!. The band's MySpace samples didn't blow me away, but the live show was surprisingly good. Maybe I'll have to give 'em another shot when they play the Marquee tomorrow. My Gold Mask had an unusual setup (one girl on stand-up drums and a guy on guitar, which, come to think of it, is pretty much the Raveonettes) but after some slightly spotty vocals at the beginning, it ended with some solid art-pop, and a decent cover of "Betty Davis Eyes." Nice.
• On to free burgers and Chain & the Gang at Republik. Honestly, any sample songs these guys have online will do nothing but undersell them. The whole show is about Chain's ability to connect with the crowd through his hypnotically charismatic speeches. It's more about attitude than musicianship, which is risky, but they've got the strut to pull it off. Again, nice.
• I did end up giving Cave another chance, and holy heck am I glad I did. They played to a small but appreciative crowd (including the entirety of The Summerlad), and as far as repetitive psych-rock jamming goes, it was pretty superb. The vocals were a bit buried, but that's hardly the point when you've got rapid-fire basslines, waves of guitar and a keyboard player who might actually believe it's still 1971. Very nice.

As for tonight, the science centre shows still seem like must-sees, and then I'm torn. Women, who are amazing but will surely be back, or Swedish singer-songwriter Christine Owman? Jane Vain, whose new album is excellent, or Mariachi El Bronx, which is bound to be an experience, if nothing else? Damn these decisions.

PS - Since its already been knocked off the main page by all this Sled Islanding, don't forget about the latest Your Band Here profile, Mares of Thrace, who get extra bonus points for being the first people to figure out what this blog's name is a reference to.