Pop Gig of the Week: Alabama Shakes, Electric Brixton, London SW2

Genuine contenders: Alabama Shakes

A whole lot of shaking is already going on in the party the Alabama Shakes arrive at. Kings of Leon and the Black Keys have ploughed similarly blues-strafed retro soul-rock turf; so has Jack White, in his various guises. Yet the latter's love of the Shakes is justified.

Resistance is useless before Brittany Howard's earth-moving voice, for starters, a from-the-gut howl and holler refreshingly untouched by Auto-Tune.

This isn't a case of a dynamite singer fronting studied musos, either: tight and loose all at once, her band's intuitive chops are clearly forged from hard-gigging.

That's the kind of quality dads (and Russell Crowe – also a fan) will drearily insist is "proper music", true, but the Shakes sound thrillingly lived-in, their raids on tradition raggedy rather than reverential.

Throw in a killer debut album, Boys & Girls, and a reputation for sweating up a swampy storm live, and you'll see why they're not to be mistaken for mere latecomers to a ready-made party: they're genuine contenders, fit to swipe the Kings and Keys' crowns.

(0871 220 0260; www.seetickets.com) Thur