"We love it, it's always a really nice affair, special. We've built up a little fanbase there now.

"Our philosophy has always been to be near the bottom of the bill, in places which didn't owe us anything, and where there weren't a load of our mates there backslapping us.

"We didn't even play Leeds until our fifth gig."

Bolton feels that this has enabled the band to toughen up and work harder to impress audiences.

They are now essentially based in London, closer to the original home of bassist/vocalist Anna Greenaway.

The Sugars – completed by drummer Alex Lewis – are largely influenced by experimental American acts like !!! (pronounced chk chk chk) and Dirty Projectors.

They released debut album The Curse of the Sugars earlier this month, and alongside a hectic touring schedule they found time for DJ sets at the prestigious Latitude Festival in Suffolk.

"I'd describe our music as one foot in the present, two feet in the past", Bolton says.

"The album is so diverse – everything from disco to mariachi, Latin to garage.

"We're making music aside from the trend, we would never want to be trendsetters.

"And I don't think anyone would want to look like The Sugars!"

Certainly, image is an important factor in everything the band do. Bolton is a striking figure with his Johnny-Cash-in-the-Fifties quiff and sideburns, and a penchant for braces, while Greenaway is a classic movie-star peroxide blonde.

"We're all massive vintage fans," Bolton says. "I used to be a mod, and Anna loves all these Sixties dresses.

"We're never within the mainstream, we know what we want to be and look like, and that's outside the norm."

The Sugars met at gigs at the Hifi Club. Greenaway studied music at the University of Leeds' recently-closed Bretton Hall campus, while Alex was at the University of Huddersfield.

He replaced original drummer Jodie, who was forced to step down at the beginning of this year with repetitive strain problems in her wrist.

The band were originally "coaxed out of the confines of the garage" and onto the stage by rising Sheffield indie-pop kids The Long Blondes.

"We've known them for years," Bolton says. "Dorian (Cox, Long Blondes' lead guitarist] is originally from York and came to Uni in Leeds.

"We met nearly 10 years ago, this is going way back, but we were always really close and kept in touch.

"We had some tunes so they said, 'Come and play'. Our first gig was their 2004 Christmas party, and the second one was with them in London."

So are The Sugars part of some kind of glam-pop movement in Yorkshire? Do they bear too many similarities to their Blonde mentors to really stand out?

"We share a lot of musical things – a love of soul, and we've both got a very strong sense of style – but we're very different.

"I don't think many people are doing what we do at the moment, at least over here.