To enter the world of 16 Horsepower is to enter a world of damnation, redemption and divine ecstasy. It is also, unfortunately, to enter the world of the cliché. Yet considering 16 Horsepower walk in the valley of parody, they find their salvation in David Eugene Edwards, a man who examines the world of spiritual pestilence with the empathy of the professional flagellant.

The opening "American Wheeze" - Edwards and accordion expiring in perfect phlegmy harmony - sets the odd repulsion/attraction dynamic in motion. This is a long way off from the elegant elegies of the alt-country massive, the off-roading alt-country, the roads to hell less-travelled: the rolling "Haw" trading its soul at the crossroads, "Poor Mouth" rattling like saint's knucklebones, the way the singer unnervingly mutters and spasms off microphone.

Before he departs, Edwards blesses the audience. It's not tonight's only leap of faith.