You seem to have decided you want to play music aimed squarely at one bunch of people – that “target audience” of yours – and think that you can make a career out of that. That is great for you but it is not really any more interesting to me than what anyone else does to earn a crust.

You look at your music as a career rather than anything creative and hopefully will be rewarded for it. I’m sure the music world is crying out to shove a few more quid into landfill indie and you certainly have the persistence needed although to get somewhere but if I were you I’d probably be a bit more thick skinned and a little less dismissive.

I was not one of the “boring set” at the bar but I remember the people you mean and I’m sure they are eager to see you again after your description. They seemed like regular guys to me but then again I don’t think so rigidly in terms if target markets so I’ve no reason to dismiss them.

Nor indeed to I have the need to summon up the spirit of dead rock stars to pass comment. For the record I don’t think Elvis would give a toss about either of us but he would probably think the Swing Movement were interesting, which they are. I don’t know how they think about things by the way because I’ve never met them but they are a good example of a band in Bradford who play similar venues to you who can do what you do better.

Ultimately I’m not sure what point you are trying to make in this extended toys out of the pram.

You admirably defend your right to be derivative, to make music that will interest only those fourteen year olds we talk about being in your target market, to treat your music not as an art but as a business and to make a career out of it rather than treat it as a way to express anything interesting, to make anything distinctive, to do anything different.

You defend that and I don’t argue with you – good luck to you

What I can’t understand though is that after you have set yourself up to make derivative, uninteresting, targeted, commercial, unit shifting, radio friendly music why you think people are going to be interested? Bit like the people who make High School Musical wondering why they are not packing anyone over 12.

Anyhow, just you have the right to produce and publicly broadcast your musical endeavours, if entry is charged to watch it then that gives the audience a particular right to reply and critique if they so wish. It’s just the way of life that you can’t please all the people all the time and if you’re to go as far as you’d like to in this industry, you’re going to have to grow thicker skin than this. Surely more of your time should be spent beloveldly crafting your music than spent attempting to argue the toss in an extended fashion on here, weeks after the event has occurred. We’ve moved on, it’s about time you do too.

The Swing Movement – for example – are a Bradford band around your level and your age but manage to not come over like they are playing covers and the Analog Bombs can take a word of criticism without throwing an embarrassing tantrum.

You know if you were to read the review (again, or at all maybe) you would see that it says explicitly that people danced and had a good night with a decent crowd. You do what you do reasonably but what you do is as you say “a thick stick of indie” and nothing else. It is indie influenced by indie. It is music that eats itself.

You have an interesting idea on connecting with people – if you do then that is great, if not you scream like a spoilt child and start saying that those who do not agree are “not worth connecting with” and “ain’t got that much worth”. The Last Of The Summer Wine thing is almost as funny as your “any one who goes outside will be knifed” joke. Perhaps a career in stand up comedy should beckon in which you come on and tell some Peter Kaye jokes with enough altered that you can pass them off as your own and then get all sulky and start throwing around insults with anyone who does not laugh. I exaggerate.

It is a curious world you live in Joe and ultimately I’m glad to be “separated by a generation” as you say (I’m 35 but it is my birthday soon) because I like there to be clear blue water between me and thee. You talk about “target markets” and sticking with indie because it is popular and would do well in the charts as if music is a commercial thing, a FMCG, something to shift units.

I don’t know (or care) if that is because of my age but frankly I don’t like my music so soulless and so much about selling rather than creating. Even this outraged, egotistical attitude of yours – complete a disregard for capitalisation which is, like, just sooo corporate isn’t it? – is a constructed copy of something tired and old and boring.

I like bands who put their hearts into creating something personal to them not people who worry about how many units it would sell. There are loads of people your age in Bradford who make music that is personal and has nothing to do with radio friendly unit shifters so to be honest I don’t think we are separated by age, just by attitude.

You are right though, generic, tired indie pop sells bucket loads and you are making sure you stay so close to that that you are never in danger of creating anything that interesting except to fourteen year old girls who have never heard those obvious influences and so you are able to pass off your pastiche as creativity.

Good luck to you. I wish you all the best with it – you could be the new Scouting For Girls – but I no matter how much you put the bottom lip out you can’t argue someone into liking your band’s music and I reserve the right to say that I was not entertained and that I have heard it all before, and better.

Yes, you need to find your own sound. No band is without influences and influences are no bad thing but my problem with Young Loves is that the influences were too narrow and too obvious.

Now I’m not sure who you would say those influences were but to me I felt like I was watching a mix of The Libertines with Babyshambles and a dash of Dirty Pretty Things thrown in which is to say that the influences worn on the sleeve were not broad enough to keep me interested. It was not like you were trying to fuse African drums and New York folk or British indie with Chicago dance. You were playing in a shallow pool of other indie bands and that is fine – it was enjoyable enough for most and I thought it was well done – but after twenty odd years of listening to exactly the sort of boys with jangling guitar music you play I need something more than The Libertines meet Razorlight to be that interested because frankly if I want to hear something that derivative twice I’ll go home and put on Up The Bracket not listen to a copy of a copy of a copy.

Dylan does admit to where his influences come from and they are a wide range of music, poetry and art very few of them are another “American folk singer.”

Put it another way: You know what happens when generations of cousins marry? That is, in my opinion, what keeps music in the shit (if it is in the shit at all) and you could do with looking outside your family of other indie musicians whom you wear so proudly on your sleeves and introduce some new genes into the pool.

Nothing against your style of music – I’ve spent most of my life listening to it – and nothing against you but I paid my money to go to the gig and the review was what I thought. Write it off as a character flaw on my part if you want, whatever gets you through the night, or take it as feedback or ignore it. I was unimpressed but then again I’ve seen the type of thing Young Loves play done before and better so if your ambitions go beyond playing to your mates on Friday nights in pubs then you might want to try throw something new into the mix.

Don’t feel you have to though. You might sell billions of records to your target market and go on to getting pissy with NME journalists who dare not bow to the musical genius of coming off like a Libertines tribute act complete with identikit “arrogant singer” but that is not anything I’m interested in. I go to gigs to see something different and if you look through this site you’ll see I’m fulsome of praise when I find it and tend not to say much when I don’t but that Friday I saw a faded copy and a singer who took a stab – if you pardon the pun – at arrogant rock star but came off as sulky fourteen year old. I was unimpressed.

Finally, my Bradfordian education came before yours and while I’m not saying it was any better they did at least tell us how to spell “fuck” correctly.

I’m probably not from your “target market” because I remember when bands wouldn’t even know the phrase “target markets” or if they did they would not admit to it. Seriously though I don’t think you should bow gracefully, be polite or thank anybody but I think you should (and probably will) find a sound that is more of your own.

Thanks for reading.