Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ

With so many Northern Irish bands making waves in 2010, the hunt is on to see who's going to be taking up that mantle for 2011. Seven Summits have definitely got to be one of the bands to watch this year, such is the potential they have.

On record, they'd put you in mind of very early Snow Patrol; as clichΓ©d a comparison as that may appear (especially for a band from Northern Ireland), there's definitely something of 'Songs for Polarbears' about them, with the thoughtful, slightly dark, lingering nature of their alt rock. In their more mellow and introspective moments, there's even a hint of The Decemberists in there somewhere.

However, there aren't too many of those more subtle, mellow moments at Auntie Annies. It's a Friday night, folks are out for some mighty craic, and Seven Summits oblige and then some. They crank out some seriously stomping indie rock tunes, which go down a storm with the crowd - the perfect backdrop for what's turning into a really great showcase night for the music scene in Belfast.

Without a doubt, their stand out tune is current single 'Burning Heart' - a disgracefully catchy, radio-friendly, lovely little track, which really shows off the promise that these guys have. If they can keep that sort of standard up, they could well go the way of Two Door Cinema Club or General Fiasco. And much like both those bands, they've got the chops to back it all up.

They've got the strength of their live performances to develop what's already turning out to be quite the fanbase around town; and whilst they're not reinventing the wheel by any means, they've got enough of an identity of their own to be able to stand out amongst a crowd with a few more cracking singles like Burning Heart.

2011 is going to be a very interesting year for local music, if this lot are anything to go by.

Orla Graham