When Will I Be Famous? Hot Hot Heat, Barfly, London <br></br>Zabrinski, 100 Club, London <br></br>Pink Grease, upstairs at the Garage, London

Few bands rush from the Top of the Pops studio to perform at the Barfly, so Canada's Hot Hot Heat must have it made. Their catchy single "Bandages" has dominated the airwaves recently (except on Radio 1, which considers its central metaphor to be inappropriate at present), and tonight's show is easily the week's hottest ticket. Understandably, the quartet are in buoyant mood. The singer and sometime keyboardist, Steve Bays, may whine like Robert Smith, but he has the curly-haired confidence of a young Dylan or Springsteen. The kids love their ska-inflected take on ye olde new wave, but the instant familiarity of their tunes (such as "Get in or Get out", which shares a melody with Nirvana's "Sliver") seems strangely facile. They are highly competent, but anyone out of their teens may well think, "So so what?"

Mysteriously, the Cardiff unknowns Zabrinski are headlining the venerable jazz hole of the 100 Club to a small audience they seem to have brought with them. Young and downright nervous, they follow in the footsteps of the local heroes Super Furry Animals but just aren't up to that level yet. But underneath the amateurish presentation are several good tunes, such as the title track from their Koala Ko-ordination album. They need to practise more and should move the bass-player to a spot where the drummer can hear him. And practise a lot more. They definitely have something.

Sheffield's riotous Pink Grease understand stagecraft. Their line-up includes a man who plays what appears to be the world's biggest stylophone, a bassist straight out of Def Leppard and a singer who could have stepped out of the poster for Trainspotting. Sleazy, and given to shameless musical steals (quoting Joy Division's "Shadowplay" was inspired), they put on a shambolic punk-rock show that is a must-see. All right, they look better than they sound, but they do look great. If everyone who had ever played in a similarly chaotic band in the Seventies could be persuaded to buy a Pink Grease single, they'd make the charts, no mistake.