Brit-rock leanings are nothing new these days. Every gig-hungry band with an amp seems to be able to put a few three minute wonders together. But it takes musicianship and an imagination to turn of-the-now genre adherence into an actual good band. Luckily, Telograph has both.

We’d love to write them off as a band that’s squeaking by on the merit of their lead singer’s good looks and detached charisma, but fortunately Telograph brought more to the table last weekend at the Velvet Lounge. The band opened their set with driving bass and percussion, and worked their way through a slew of different treatments. They have a very full sound, with well-reheared, tight instrumentals coming from Arash Ardalan on drums, Gary On on bass and Benoit Tilizien on keyboards and violin. Andy Boliek’s vocals came off a bit dramatic at the outset, but proved strong and the band’s biggest asset as the set wore on.

They wrapped their deft instrumentals around a few different sounds, ranging from atmospheric to dark to up tempo, and shining on their smaller, faster tracks. Telograph sounds most at home in the aforementioned light, Brit-rock setting. The’ve definitely taken a few notes from The Killers, but have worlds more energy and charisma on stage. And Telograph appears actually to enjoy playing music (unlike The Killers). That love for music has apparently rubbed off on plenty of people, as the packed room danced and sang along with every song, culminating in a big clapping, friendly, fiddle-fueled sing along. With studio time booked and a summer full of shows left to play, Telograph isn’t going anywhere but up.