Girlpool / Dean Engle / Cop Graveyard @ Manchester Deaf Institute, 8 September

Sometimes it’s the crowd that makes the evening. There’s an encouraging atmosphere as soon as local lo-fi pairing Cop Graveyard take the stage tonight, owing in no small part to a few enthusiastic girls down the front. With their unpolished mesh of raw indie pop and queer punk drums, these songs are warm and soothing, layered in a reassuring fuzz. Last song Don’t Hate Me’s repeated plea of 'What did I do?' is an intimate one, and sets us up nicely for a pared back take on Quarterbacks.

Dean Engle’s solo show centres around his skeletal vignettes, slowed substantially from his full band’s racing twee-punk to let those wry lyrics show. 'I can’t seem to stay in love… I guess my heart beats too fast or whatever,' he deadpans. While his songs emotions are deliciously hedged, their sound is definitely not as he twangs through the American Football-flecked Sportscenter.

When Girlpool kick off with Ideal World, the unconditional affection from the room is moving. "Can you feel the love tonight?" blue-haired bassist Harmony Tividad croons, her guitarist buddy Cleo Tucker laughing at the spirited reaction. The teenage duo run through almost all of debut Before The World Was Big, and as their voices intermingle and counterpoint through the album’s nostalgic title track and Chinatown’s adolescent second-guessing, the set is a potent example of the power of having close friends right beside you.

As the pair swap instruments for the menacing Paint Me Colours, one fan raises a laugh by singing badly, her fingers in the air going double-time as the song reaches its punk rock conclusion. It's a rare camaraderie; ending with Pretty, in its hushed beckoning of ‘Talk to me/Tell me any story/See me/You don’t have to be alone,’ Girlpool are a comfort in anxious times.