Ezra Furman @ Soup Kitchen, Manchester, 11 February

With a line-up like tonight’s you could have wagered the house on a packed basement early doors and come out on top. Local enfant terrible Kiran Leonard, still riding high on the success of his acclaimed record, Bowler Hat Soup, is on pre-9 p.m. and that’s merely the amuse-bouche.

Nevertheless, America's Ezra Furman is the real talking point following the success of 2013’s LP, Day of the Dog. With his and his band’s transition from relative unknowns in Britain to rock'n'roll mainstays of the 6 Music playlist complete, this, as one of their first ever UK shows, is a testing ground. Based on that album, the experience should be like watching the bastard offspring of Jim Jones in a booze-fuelled, ivory-bashing, six-string-thrashing frenzy – but can they match those somewhat ludicrous expectations?

In three words: yes, sort of. Familiar opener I Wanna Destroy Myself – first track on said LP – is the perfect statement of intent, a huge amalgamation of distorted riffs, drum crescendos and propellant rhythms; Furman de-robing to reveal a bizarre leopard-print vest gives the midweek date an early-hours-Saturday-morning ambience. I Killed Myself But I Didn’t Die, one of the troupe’s older tunes, invokes euphoria and melancholy with its needle-in-the-eye take on balladry, and bears the mark of an anthem performed with blood and sweat. To put it more succinctly, the four-piece are welcome back any time.