One of my most consistent mottos in life is, Panic: It gets shit done. Brash, but true. I never thought I would see it demonstrated as perfectly as it was at Boy Cried Wolf’s gig at Camden Barfly last night.

   When the impeccably dressed Wayne Murray took centre stage, ready to launch into the head-bending opener, Ghost In A Photograph, I saw a pale and wide-eyed expression more suited to a man about to enter a cage fight with Vinnie Jones. But the great thing about panic in my experience is that it can bring out the best in people; something tenacious and raw.

   The set list strayed away from a few strong selections from their EP, The Firebrand. The desolate assault of melancholic guitar that is Forever Is A Dirty Word sat comfortably alongside the optimistic Summer Song, a new addition that was almost unnamed, and for a while was known only as Gary…

   They are also adept at providing the most unlikely of anthems. In the same way that I would be bemused by a chant involving tweed, or Emile Heskey, I find it charming that I have never left a Boy Cried Wolf gig without the chorus of ‘We are all…tricycle drivers!’ stuck in my head.

   By the time Tricycle Drivers was played the spaces between songs were punctuated by a level of applause (and a hint of Take That-esque screaming) that I hadn’t heard in The Barfly for a while. It was received with an endearing amount of surprise, with Wayne remarking, “You’re so loud. …It’s so nice!” with a bashful glance at the floor.

   The lyrics to No Comfort From Your Skin, the night’s closer, were penned by Wayne’s touring companion Nicky Wire, of Manic Street Preachers. It’s hardly surprising that the song drags you into a kind of (undeniably catchy) lament; “She’s picking me apart with the weight of her words/And killing my desire.” Heartbreak isn’t only Wire’s domain, however, as the rest of the set list is full of it. Traces Of You is a break-up song waiting to happen, one to put on repeat while working your way through the remains of a bottle of whiskey and going through all the ways in which their new girlfriend may be prettier…or something like that.

   “You’re exciting, we’re exciting, it’s exciting,” Wayne observed, and he was right. It had been a while since I had witnessed The Barfly so animated. I would see Boy Cried Wolf now, as soon as you can. Not only because they are awesome, and genuinely hard to compare to any other bands around right now, but because I doubt you’ll be able to see them in a venue this size for much longer.

    Do it. You won’t be disappointed.