The last time Little Man Tate played in York, their van was stolen, but frontman Jon Windle would like to thank the thieves: "If we hadn't had our van nicked we wouldn't have had any press."

It's a true story, but the media would have picked up on them anyway. Like fellow Sheffield stars (and mates) Arctic Monkeys, LMT - as their fans call them - have surfed the MySpace phenomenon to a rowdy following and a major label deal. Musically, they have as much in common with the Monkeys as they do with earlier Sheffield sons Pulp. However, Windle's choruses have a singalong quality reminiscent of old punk bands like the Lurkers. He manages to be both unpretentious and literary at the same time, rhyming "university" with "G&T" and "23 or 24" with "still gorgeous, that's for sure".

Windle is a fabulous character- frontman. He looks permanently startled, possibly because he is so tall that his head scrapes the venue's ceiling. He wears a tank-top that would have been an Oxfam shop reject in 1974, and introduces LMT's first single The Agent as "a top 40 smash ... at number 40". A tuneful confession to craving "the things other people regret ... like cybersex and shagging in the rain" is followed by the even more eyebrow-raising chorus, "She goes down, our Marie."

If they are not investigated by the social services, they will be huge.

· At the West End Centre, Aldershot (01252 408040), on November 25. Then touring.