Well, I do believe I owe you a review of Monday night's gig in Wolverhampton, so here goes.

The Beatings kicked ass. They have sonic similarities to the likes of The Datsuns and The Catheters as well as a touch of Nirvana about them, but they played with no small amount of confidence, verve and personality and were a pretty awesome live proposition. It is to be seen whether or not they can knuckle in on what is already an overcrowded garage rock market, but at least they are a new British band we can genuinely take seriously (in contrast to The Comedy Clash aka The Libertines). Having the good sense to bring in Kevin Shields to produce their fine new single Bad Feeling also augurs well for the future.

Main support band and new Independiente signings Kinesis may not be the most original band on the planet, but S Club Juniors aside, they must be one of the shortest. The Mini-Me Manic Street Preachers, anyone? How about the Mogwai Munchkins? Or if we're being really rude, My Little Vitriol? To be fair, the band do have plentiful virtues. They have a good look, appear to have a great attitude and would seem to possess a more-than-decent record collection between them. But although they make a handsome racket, with a few exceptions in the tune department they come up...well, a bit short, if you must know. They have potential, yes. But at the moment it's still largely unfulfilled.

I could find very little about Casual Theory online, so I'm assuming they are a local band who kicked off proceedings. Yet another provincial indie outfit with a singer who likes to think he's Liam Gallagher: just what the world needs. But they had a certain something which stopped me skulking back towards the bar before the end of the set. Namely a clutch of half-decent tunes and an entertainingly ramshackle rendition of The Smiths' Bigmouth Strikes Again. Worth keeping an eye open for.