Best Coast @ Ruby Lounge, Manchester

From touring pokey venues supporting Sun Araw as one half of Pocahaunted a couple of years back, Cosentino has arrived. Having amassed a young fashionable crowd of devotees off the back of her LP it’s requests central. Truth be told Ms Cosentino has never been one for following the rule book. Beyond the success of her popular album there is a wealth of material unrecognisable for many of tonight’s attendees.

The sound is hard hitting snappy rockers. The drum kit is sharp and the reverb is low. From the ethereal psychedelia of Pocahaunted, just off a plane and a little drunk it’s pure rock ‘n roll above ‘chill wave’ or the even more dated ‘hypnagogic’ pop. For Best Coast have graduated from their pigeonhole and joined the ranks of alternative American rock. On his form they could be with Matador or SubPop or K records. It’s a shame that they have left the ‘chill wave’ for dust because where they are now is far less adventurous. It’s a trade off for crowd-pleasers.

What becomes striking as the set progresses is how the music is locked into this spiraling formulae, only occasionally surfacing to show a new-found energy. They lack their defining qualities on stage - just another RnB group struggling with originality. Her guitar chugs away throughout at a laconic pass, as does the bass below muted vocals.

Cosentino forces her voice off key, bending the sustained syllables out of tune as if to say “I don’t give a fuck about convention or your rules”. Awkwardly this charming superficial move is one of her most endearing. However it’s when she really lets rip, when she sings with some convention, that the room sets alight. For it’s these moments where the sound becomes complete. Best Coast are no longer some slack jawed DIY outfit kicking against the pricks with their lack-lustre attitudes, they’re an all rocking, all touring band. All the better for it.