Sun Araw @ Islington Mill, Salford

Opening with Sun Araw's loose reference to the Eric Clapton CLASSIC ('proper music' and all that) track ‘Layla’; the sound shatters from distortion, taking unfamiliar riffs and sending them deeper into a forest of pop. The sound thins out, all that remains is a baseline and scuzzy lead guitar - the battery on the retro 80's Casio has died. That which provides the track's sonic template is gone leaving little to offer. It's an interrupted start.

Once the battery is replaced, so are expectations fulfilled. What sweet pop as modulated waves of sound ebb and flow on top of extended guitar melodies. From the stark brutalism of the discordant opening notes, Sun Araw can finally provide the contrast they were previously seeking. If you removed the sound the pair would look a sad sight. Two young men focussed on their guitar fret boards. Scarcely looking out, neither at each other nor the crowd; it could be a guitar club's open mic night.

The set is a combination of bleeps (from the Casio) and guitar grooves which vary from deep and funky to repeated leit motif. When the warm nostalgic synths fail or disappear it's the core soulful groves that conquer. It's fashionable to indulge in 80's synth sounds - a trend Sun Araw have helped pioneer - but only beyond these melodies does the music truly ascend. As lyric "lead us away" is sang, singer and chief creative Cameron Stallones (really?) wigs out on the keys. It's a cool reminder that the music for all its introverted psychedelia is not self-important. It's funny and charmingly entertaining. A sweet escape from the banalities of genre bands and faux experimentation.

Last track is a cover – Neil Young, apparently. As the opening chords of ‘Welfare Mothers’ is played with best efforts at imitating Crazy Horse grunge, the track (it transpires) is ‘Barstool Blue’ subverted and hidden under a Don Henley-esque wail. Party on.