American rockers The Sights could star in their own cartoon.

The singer is a little guy but he has the voice of a tarnished angel bursting out of his lungs like a freight train and he plays the guitar like a demon.

The drummer plays like a caveman, whacking those skins with a primal ferocity and still finding time to add beautifully harmonious backing vocals.

Rounding out this most unassuming of power trios is the multi-talented organist, who plays the bass keys with his left hand and the high notes with his right.

Even though they're straight from Detroit rock city itself, The Sights owe more to classic Britpop than they do the garage blues murk beloved of The White Stripes and company.

Like that other great cartoon three-piece Supergrass, who they sometimes resemble, they reach back to a lineage that encompasses The Who, The Kinks and The Small Faces.

But unlike many, The Sights widen the net of their influences to take in, on the evidence of their Brighton gig, shades of Alice Cooper, Alex Chilton and Otis Redding.

A stunning cover of Mahalia Jackson's gospel classic I'm Going To Live The Life I Sing About In My Song took the music back to its earthy roots, while the closing jam evoked the ghosts of Hawkwind, The Nice and early Pink Floyd.

The Sights aren't mere retro fetishists, however. They play music raw and ragged with the passion and irreverence of youth, as though their lives depended on it.

Review by Ben Graham, features@theargus.co.uk