Jack Change, winners of heat three of the Thomas de la Rue Battle of the Bands competition. (Picture by Tom Tardif, 1055902)

THE competition was heating up as Battle of the Bands continued this week.

Four-piece Jack Change won the third instalment of the Thomas de la Rue competition, beating Breaking the Silence and Andy Duchemin’s solo project.

Although Jack Change had just one original in their set, the band was a really tight unit.

Their song choices were on the money with the audience.

Everything from Kings Of Leon, Foo Fighters and their rendition of Coldplay’s Yellow had the packed pub singing along.

OK, so singer Joel Plumber was out of tune when they performed their own song, but that was the only fault during their set. They were noticeabley nervous at the start, but as things progressed their confidence grew. The thing that stuck out for me the most was the bassist – he was very good and seemed to be the glue that stuck the band together.

As a judge, my criticism was this: because they had a set full of varied covers, I could not pin-point what sort of band they were.

Are they Indie? Grunge? Rock? At the moment they don’t have a particular style and direction that makes you go, ‘Yes, they remind me of this band’. That said, they were the strongest performers on Thursday and the panel of judges – Scott Guilbert, Andy Robinson and I – felt that given a place in the final, they would work hard to create a couple of self-penned tracks.

It was a tough decision, however, especially when young band Breaking The Silence was thrown into the equation.

Another four-piece, they also had a set of both covers and originals.

They too had a crisp sound and their originals were tightly crafted.

Covers included Blink 182 and the Foo Fighters.

However, at times I felt the set was a bit samey in terms of covers. They’re a good band technically and I felt that they could have stepped out of their comfort zone and been a bit more diverse. The singer’s voice reminded me a little of Charlie Simpson from Fightstar with a slight Brian Molko from Placebo twang.

Again, this band had a following and fans were dancing at the front for them.

Also on Thursday’s bill was Andy Duchemin with a solo effort. Mostly all originals apart from an Alkaline Trio track and an old Diana Ross disco track, his set was more of a comedy get-up than a full-blown music set. It has hilarious and he had the crowd laughing at his jokes and cringing at times to his controversial song topics.

Nobody was safe in his line of fire – obese people, his friend’s ex-girlfriend and even the Guernsey Police.

The set reminded me of punk-outfit The Vandals and, coupled with the humour side of his performance, I thought of comedian Bill Bailey when he unleashes his seven sounds of evil sketch on stage.

The £1,000 prize money is still up for grabs and next week another three bands will battle it out to join Jack Change, Tantale and Deadwing in the all-day final on 5 December. The fourth round takes place this Thursday from 7.30pm with Plan of Attack, Mark Anthony and Wax Off.