The latest British import: rattling and pulsing Music

On almost any night, you can go to the Troubadour to hear the music, but you had to be there on Monday to hear the Music, a young British quartet that’s being touted in its native land as a leading rock light.

The Leeds, England, band’s L.A. debut was sold out, indicating early interest in a group whose self-titled debut album won’t even be released in the U.S. until February. Alternately spacey and driving, the 70-minute set fetchingly blended the heavy guitar rock of Led Zeppelin, the epic rattle and hum of U2 and the pulsing electronica of the Chemical Brothers or the Prodigy (achieved with loads of guitar effects rather than keyboards).

Singer-guitarist Robert Harvey’s elfish kung-fu stage moves conveyed an arena-ready, eccentric confidence. But such songs as the bombastic “The Dance” didn’t so much regurgitate retro-rock as adapt the classic sound to modern times, a la Jane’s Addiction in its heyday. The blues component was often more a feeling than a sound, as in the lyrically minimal come-on “Take the Long Road and Walk It.”

The atmospheric songs didn’t exactly have memorable hooks, but the vibrating guitars and pounding drumbeats got under your skin. Despite the tunes’ erotic communal vibe, the show could have been sexier, and Harvey’s baggy jeans certainly didn’t seal his freakish appeal the way, say, a nice pair of leather pants might have.