They�re from Bristol, they�ve got associations with home town buddies Massive Attack (singer/ guitarist Jon Harris played on their �Mezzanine� album and Sunna have signed to their Melankolic imprint), they feature Richie Mills - drummer with Derby�s gone but not forgotten unsung heroes Cable - and their debut tour of the States was with A Perfect Circle.

You�ve read that all before, but just in case you haven�t, we thought we�d remind you. Sunna have a major buzz around them at the moment. All the above has certainly helped them - particularly the APC tour. Lucky b******s maybe, but what Sunna also have is one hell of a blistering debut album (the recently released �One Minute Science�) under their belts too. And that, my friends, is not luck, that�s down to talent. The Monarch therefore is suitably packed. Sunna don�t need to be playing such dives. The band look cramped, the crowd certainly is, and maybe that�s the reason why Sunna choose to play a rather subdued set, opting to play, in my opinion, too many slowies in one go and leaving the �rockier� tracks till the end. Sunna though, undoubtedly have some fine songs - �I�m Not Trading�, �Power Struggle�, �7%� and �Insanity Pulse� - being but a few. Comparisons? How�s about Alice In Chains doing trip hop? It�s different. In Harris, Sunna have an enigmatic frontman, a Mike Patton lookalike with a glint of roguish charm in his half-open eyes. And what of the future? Sunna and the punters know they�re onto a winning formula. It�s just a shame that this gig didn�t really do them any justice. Still who�s going to remember a gig at The Monarch when sometime very soon Sunna will be playing much, much bigger places. (7)

Jon Machin