I find it quite amusing that Throbbing Gristle are still seen as one of the most outrageous bands of all time - a read of Simon Ford's excellent Wreckers of Civilisation will remind you of all the controversy and the truly avant garde realms pioneered by the Death Factory.

But the more recent 33 1/3 book on 20 Jazz Funk Greats reminds you that it wasn't just controversy and noise and that they were musicians with songs (sometimes even pop songs!) and not just a bunch of noise trying to shock...well, not all of it! So it seems fitting that in 2009, TG are playing sets which feel a bit like their greatest hits. Not that they had any, mind you!

This was the first set of two played beneath the arches of Charing Cross railway station by the Gristle, the audience surprisingly full of couples and TG coming on a bit after-six. TG left the house lights on throughout, an effect that like their entire career demonstrated their openness and something that had quite an effect with the intense live sound.

They opened on a drastically reworked version of 20 Jazz Funk Greats' 'Persuasion', which kept very little of the original and was more of a poem piece incorporating Facebook, My Space, Twitter et al into their original ditty where a husband is convincing his other half to become a Reader's Wife. Always a joy to hear Genesis P-Orridge intone, "I've got a little biscuit tin to keep your panties in!"

Since their reformation, TG have played albums like In the Shadow of the Sun and The Second Annual Report in full - with the exception of 'Persuasion' and 'Discipline' in the second set, they didn't bother to repeat Beyond Jazz Funk, their 1980 performance from Heaven.

Most of the songs were long and hypnotic, P-Orridge attacking his processed violin on the relentless 'Live Ray' and on new song 'Springbankistan' where Cosey Fanni Tutti's cornet sounded like Middle Eastern jazz - ideal for Gen's rap about "Iran/Afghanistan/No man's land..." This strange Arabian jazz was also present on a revision of their bleakest song 'Hamburger Lady', transforming the grim tale of a severe burns victim into something quite hypnotic.

The more recent 'Almost a Kiss' felt like respite and was as close to pop as they came tonight, sounding more like Psychic TV than TG - the concluding decimation of 'What a Day' reminded you how lightweight The Aphex Twin's 'Come to Daddy' was and amused with excerpts of 'Lazy Sunday' and what sounded like 'Wall of Sound' (...or maybe it was just a wall of sound?). The overloading dirge at the end a reminder that TG were making a noise that could have been tagged 'holocaust' sometime before Kevin Shields.

Tragic that they allowed some bearded promoter type to come on stage and sad that they didn't seem to have played for an hour and didn't feel like offering an encore in the ample time left between the two sets. Irritating as songs like 'Something Came Over Me' and 'Very Friendly' have been fantastic on other dates this year - and why did the second set get 'Discipline' where the first set got...nothing?

A Crisis in Taste reminded you that TG know what they're doing and are as cutting-edge in 2009 as they were pioneering in 1979 - it even reminded you that they had...songs. Perhaps some were shocked at not being shocked and despite Genesis' slightly panto blend of Brian Jones and Bet Lynch it seems we need TG more than ever. Though stumbling into daylight after and sober like most of the audience in the early evening, I can confirm it definitely wasn't rock and roll...