Wild Flag - The Cockpit, Leeds

Peggy Sue are from Brighton and possess a fairly bewitching live presence. However, their brand of riot grrrl folk-rock gets a little repetitive over several songs, despite some innovative drumming and an interesting use of dynamics. Occasionally, they break into some bracing atonal noise or a spot of monster riffing and these moments are the highlight of their set. One problem is that singers Rosa Rex and Katy Klaw have somewhat limited vocal capabilities, meaning every song feels trapped in the same angsty emotional range. That said, they've clearly got the musical talent to broaden their songwriting and it would be interesting to hear them do that.

Wild Flag, of course, are a whole different deal. There's a real sense that here we have a band of veterans who have learned to relax and just enjoy playing the music they love. This is evidenced by the legendary Carrie Brownstein kick, always perfectly in sync with the crash of a power chord. Then there's the way keyboard player Rebecca Cole spends literally the entire set bopping and jiving while stabbing hey keys. Being Wild Flag, you sense, is a whole lot of fun.

Thankfully, it's just as much fun for those of us in the audience tonight. Freed from the inexplicably flat production on their self-titled debut, the band tear into their songs with a ferocity only tempered by their obvious musicality. Although the focus is on 60s/70s garage band thrills, if you're the kind of muso who gets off on fiddly solos and tempo changes, this band will knock you out. They go all-out space rock on the extended coda of 'Racehorse', Carrie lifting her guitar above her head in total rock goddess pose while fellow front-woman Mary Timony lets rip with the effects pedals.

Their between song banter is almost as good as the music. An extended piss-take of Eric Clapton leads to Carrie grinding out the open riff of 'Sunshine of Your Love'. Just as joyous is their encore of Bobby Freedman's 'Do You Wanna Dance?', more famously covered by The Ramones. They may not have sparkled on record but live, Wild Flag are just about everything you could possibly want in a gig.