The last time Jamie T played Brighton, he decided he didn't like the city, declaring: "Not meaning to be stereotypical but the crowd's a bit funny."

Whether his opinion has changed following Wednesday's gig remains to be seen. Some of the crowd were indeed a "bit funny" - quite a few were young and screechy, some were laddy hecklers and others stood motionless as they couldn't see him perched on his stall on the tiny stage.

The rest were in full fawning mode, as the scruffy Londoner with unkempt hair and a cheeky grin ambled in, with just a bass guitar as back-up.

After a slight delay, during which time he politely asked someone to switch his guitar on, his tales from the dirty streets began.

Spinning youthful yarns of drink, drugs and love, this 20 year old's stories might not be new but his way of telling them is.

He cites influences as The Pogues, Rancid, Elvis Costello and The Specials, as well as the garage and drum'n'bass tunes he encountered at raves.

This makes for a crazy, schizophrenic sound which, in the space of one tune, can lurch from punk, to folk, to ska, to grime. Coming from the same school of street poetry as Arctic Monkeys, his lyrics are gritty and dark, yet funny and tongue-in-cheek, taking us into a world of crime, unemployment and sex, as well as loyalty, laughs and friendship.

These rough-edged lyrics capture a truth about things which could see him overtake The Streets' Mike Skinner as the voice of a generation. A highlight of the 40-minute set was So Lonely Was The Ballad, which is produced electronically on his EP Betty And Her Selfish Sons but lost none of its charm stripped down - a brilliant tune, not least because of the line "boozy Suzie got woozy with a hoozie".

Midway through the set, he apologised to the crowd for the £6 door fee and promised to return for a cheaper gig. But, disappointingly, he chose not to perform an encore. Still, his gesture of handing out copies of his own mix-tape made up for it.