Sunday 29/10/06 The KBC, Snowfight In The City Centre, Redcarsgofaster, Bureau @ In The City, Manchester

High Voltage – jack-of-all-trades and master of all, has generated fervour in Lancashire not seen since the heady days of Twisted Nerve and their talisman Mr Badly Drawn Boy. However Badly has come up good and signed to EMI, leaving a vacuous indie-shaped hole in Manchester’s ever evolving music empire.

So High Voltage: record label, fanzine, promoter and altogether cool-merchant has stepped in with a swathe of frighteningly good bands. Thus when In the City comes to town, High Voltage could be described as one of its headliners, a true emblem of the vitality of music at the moment.

Shame that first band Bureau eschew any form of vitality or freshness, the singer hits notes far lower than his cheek-bone structure would suggest, an impressive howl but he constantly employs a dreary Killers-esque desperation. The songs bound along to epic proportions but it all sounds rather flat to Gigwise. But what they do have is a keen ear for melody and they will no doubt capitalise on second albums from The Killers, Bravery et al.

Redcarsgofaster, (Gigwise is reluctant to capitalise for aesthetic reasons but grammar will out) are far more spiky and resourceful in their approach. Melody is suggested but then quickly sabotaged with feedback and minor chord tangents. Disco beats to emo guitar work, it works surprisingly well but often threatened by sheer indulgence in effects. A word of advice: audiences often like to hear sounds that don’t bare resemblance to listening to Radio 4 in a tunnel.

Snowfight in the City Centre show the restraint that is necessary, another band giving off sensitivity and emoting far beyond their years. Their songs are bursting with the kind of heart-tugging loveliness that would move even people with innards of lead.

The KBC are currently pelting up the ladder of acclaim and adulation, even they themselves might declare that it’s all happening too quickly. Indeed they employ a tasty blend of disco beats and guitar fuzz that sounds like a laboratory of fizzes and pops. 'Poisonous Emblem' still sounds like a ‘New Monday’ for a new generation, while new single 'Test The Water', shows a growing sophistication…very healthy.