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Sky Larkin', White Light Parade, Buffalo 77 Granadaland at The Love Apple, Bradford

Sky Larkin' suggest perfect pop. Perhaps it is the lacking a G to remind one of 1980s Video Game classic loopin' or perhaps it is the air of Sarah Records around the band but their name at the top of this evening's Granadaland bill is an indication of type.

On the undercard were to be The Sugars - modern Boo-Wop kids that they are - but like Rooney injury has ruled them out and so the slimmed down bill begins with the pseudo-Americana stylings of Buffalo 77.

Coming from the Midlands Buffalo 77 are a bassless three piece and very pleasantly they aurally harkens back to the early 1990s 4AD doodlings. It is simple and melancholic and all the better for it with the noir three's lead singer Jay Leighton's musing vocal complemented by a twiddlesome keyboard.

The wheel is not reinvented but the motion is good and the three have an impressive presence on stage. Avalanche is the stand out moment closing the set "Mid-October and I'll start it up again/It's not over but it is almost at an end/please, why do you have to say that?" is typical of the soothing lyricalisms and the night is started well with something like pop but of a more fracture type.

White Light Parade are approaching fixture status in the Bradford music scene but markedly improve to a point where they push past support slots and onto bigger and better which will surely come with the release of debut single Wait For The Weekend in December which - when played tonight - is greeted with an insane boogie by three of the more loyal followers. They are a band who should inspire loyalty with their swaggering attitude of ebullience which fits the cold Friday night in Bradford and lifts all listening. Musically they are tight with the brothers Danny and Johnno Yates complementing each other's picked out guitar work riffing off each other until Johnno's strings meet microphone finale.

Comparisons are easy and obvious but there is a glistening of originality in songs like Turn The Lights Down "Six O'Clock/I've been locked up/But I just want to go home." It is a craving for Liberty rather than a stealing of it.

Sky Larkin' cannot match the pace of WLP and come over a little more shambolic and less driven than the previous act. Vocally they sink under a fuzz of guitar - and not in that cool Steve Albini way - and lack a projection.

Which is not to say that they are not entertaining - they are - but that they seem unsure as to which direction they want to take you. Are they perfect pop or rough and ready? They play a couple of new songs and appreciate the friendly atmosphere of the Love Apple more than the previous night's Club NME crowd and the Love Apple responds with hearty applause but one is left confused and wanting to hear more of the melody of Buffalo '77 or the swagger of White Light Parade.

The night ebbs away pleasantly into the cold Bradford sky. Buffalo 77 are sombre, White Light Parade serious and Sky Larkin' a little sillier. All present pop of a sort and perfection is always something to strive for rather than achieve.

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The First Time - West Yorkshire Music People Talk About Stuff

Along with any number of brothers, sisters and various other associates William Sanderson's Le Tournoi impress with thoughtful and curiously amusing songs described by some as Modern Folk, others as Joy Division-esque and most as impressive.

The first record bought with your own money?

Embarrassing because its so cliche. I think it was Chesney Hawkes The One and Only from when Morrisons used to sell vinyl. It was that or the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles theme.

Hmm... Just realised that was unlikely with my own money unless I was hustling from a very early age. I bought the first big Bluetones single on tape. It has the word "solution" in the chorus, a key indie word time at the time because it rhymed with "revolution". Oh boy.

The first gig

Rios in 2001 I think. We were a terrible/fantastic punk band called The Inspectors. It went okay I suppose, we didn't mess up our already pretty messed up songs.

I was probably nervous but I can't really remember to be honest. I struggle to remember feelings - wow, what an emotional statement.

However I'm really good at remembering what people say to me and I'm clearly quite proud of this fact.

The Inspectors are reforming for the next "Wollen Wig Out" at the Beehive later this year. Good heavens.

The first Le Tournoi gig went okay, though I was playing my electric which has an odd ability to sound like an elephant. For some reason I'm thinking of using this guitar again for our next gig, maybe I should rethink this.

Actually I remember how I felt after this gig: weird.

That's what happens when you play to a room mostly populated with friends, it's hard to grasp whether you sounded good or awful.

The first bit of fan mail

Does MySpace count? No, I don't think it should.

No ones ever sent me a written letter telling me how great a musician I am, mainly because I'm no Beethoven and sadly I don't hand my address out all that often. If I do wake up one day to find myself a great musical talent, I'll make sure I immediately start giving out business cards with my home address on them.

Le Tournoi are joining Laura Groves and fourteencorners supporting The Twilight Sad at The Love Apple in Bradford on the 9th of September, 2007.

fourteencorners, Le Tournoi at PM Bar, Shipley

William from Le Tournoi is not happy with his set. "It was awful", he intones afterwards, "It was not good."There is a aura in PM Bar in Shipley that seems to scream teenage birthday party. The split of the room, the way the age groups follow that, the smokeless air of a post July 2007 pub for a while one looks around for something to wrap up and give as a present in case the birthday girl arrives. She never does but a guy who looks a lot like Shakin' Stevens soulfully sits in the corner and leaves before the bands come on.

Le Tournoi will not be pleased with the set that starts with two muted bangs of a microphone and they struggle to project through the room. The family Sanderson are the curio of Bradford's music scene and are rough edged parts of jigsaws pushed together in a way that makes pleasing and often amusing shapes. The more powerful melodies of Christmas Eve sound excellent tonight but Some Murder Perhaps is lost in the balance as lyrical subtleties are lost.

William is not pleased and certainly Le Tournoi have less impact that when last they were seen but the lack of shine is easily and often a facet of the band and they are no worse for it. Most of these songs will be played better than they were tonight but the randomness is a part of the charm and there is much charm.

If fourteencorners do not have the charm of Le Tournoi - and some may successful argue they do - they make up for it with a technical excellent which sees their sound project throughout the room tonight. They effortlessly run through We Are Pathetic! We Are Stars! and pour passion into The Walk Home and if this gig is a warm up for the Piece Hall in Halifax this weekend then they are definitely warm.