Love it or loathe it, you really notice the effects of the smoking ban in the grotty toilet venues of this world. Where once a grimy, sweaty haze inhabited the room, there is now a clear view of all four walls, and the opportunity to take a deep breath without ingesting the recycled contents of 50 teenage lungs. Settle down, smokers – it’s just an observation!

It’s a bit unfair to refer to Oxford’s Wheatsheaf as a toilet venue, seeing as it plays host to some of Oxford’s finest entertainment on a regular basis. In particular, tonight is a monthly Quickfix Recordings night – that’s the label that has recently worked with Youthmovies, The Half Rabbits, and Smilex, amongst others, to produce some of the best sounds to come out of Oxford in recent years.

Tonight, Quickfix have brought us a mêlée of bands from near and far, and to kick things off local three-piece Savage Henry Is Dead take to the stage.

The Savage Henry sound is all about the noise they make when the stomp boxes kick in – it’s a meaty riff-fest that draws influence from Queens Of The Stone Age and System Of A Down, and mixes odd timings and instrumental breaks with more generic rock-out sections. There’s something about the vocals of Savage Henry’s frontman that prevents them blending seamlessly into the band’s sound, but it’s a minor problem in a set that wins over the scattered audience who have gathered at this early stage of the evening.

Next up, it’s Mary Bendy Toy. Now this is an odd one. I want you! I need you!” yelps the frontman, who looks a bit like Marilyn Manson half way through make-up, and I’m not sure that this audience would reciprocate the sentiment of those lyrics to the band, who appear to have plucked their members from different universes and placed them together on stage for the first time tonight. The highlight of a fairly dreary set is when a hand-propelled WW2 siren is employed during the final song. Man, those things rock! A moment of superb innovation in a set that otherwise failed to impress.

“Angular” is the word that instantly springs to mind as Striplight from London launch into their thirty-minute set. It’s mostly due the choppy guitar technique of Alex Mitchell, who looks and sounds like he’s been plucked straight out of Interpol. Vocalist Liz Tumber is Pink meets Annie Lennox, but with a very distinctive style of her own. She’s an energetic performer, girating around the stage and entangling herself in the mic cord from song to song. This is a class act, and with interest from renowned indie label Touch and Go, plus reworkings of their tracks by Roots Manuva and Tim ‘Love’ Lee under their belt, a step up to the next level mightn’t be too far off.

Headlining tonight are Oxford’s own The Courtesy Kill, a band who really look the part, it has to be said. With a lineup comprising three girls (vocals, guitar and bass) and two boys (lead guitar and drums), all good looking folk, The Courtesy Kill command the stage and look relaxed with it. Their sound is tight and accomplished, mixing memorable harmonies with attacky guitars, and bringing to mind No Doubt as the only obvious point of reference. Frontwoman Cat is simultaneously shy and confident, an act which endears the audience and causes a good deal of crowd participation, even if encouraging a bloke in the crowd to strip off takes up a little too much between-song banter time. The Courtesy Kill may need a little more time to perfect their sound, but they are without doubt one of the brightest musical prospects Oxford currently has to offer.

Good on Quickfix for putting together such a diverse and entertaining bill. It was a night with enough contrast and talent to be memorable, and to ensure this reviewer will be heading back to a Quickfix Recordings night in the near future to see what other treasures the label can dig up.