The band’s second album Pala, released earlier this year, is a forty-minute party in its own right, with squeaky synths and frantic percussion making for instantly danceable tunes. Though there are pinches of island club culture soundtrack in the mix, this is a far cry from your standard dance music: for one thing there are lyrics, and for another, they are at times surprisingly poignant, full of understated but astute reflections on youth and love. This is the sort of dance you could listen to in your car, but the band are worth seeing live if only to witness the erratic wonder of lead singer Ed Macfarlane’s dancing – his jerky, frenzied moves are pretty bizarre, but also a little bit genius.

Joining Friendly Fires in Barcelona is London dubstep DJ Caspa. While dubstep continues to fracture into smaller and more obscure sub-categories – glitchstep? robostep? neurostep? – Caspa is among a small number of DJs who have remained loyal to the genre in its purest, hardest form. His formidable career has so far involved a joint release with dupstep pioneer Rusko and his remixes include reworks of tracks by 30 Seconds to Mars, Katy B and Ludacris. He was once described by The Guardian as “the Guy Ritchie of dubstep” – snubbed somewhat by critics yet hugely popular with crowds, he rarely fails to sell out a venue. Supported by Machine Beats, Caspa is bound to have the walls of Razz’s Loft shaking with his thunderous beats.

wearefriendlyfires.com

myspace.com/caspadubstep