Kate Jackson & The Wrong Moves @ The Hug and Pint, 4 June

Whoever released Kaspar Hauser from their box is certain to be looking sheepish. Loud, unctuous, and wielding darkwave hooks straight out of some 1983 netherworld, they sound bigger than a three-piece despite each component – strident bass, high-register guitar, Andy Brown’s momentum-framing drumming – representing a stark proposition, backlit by the music.

There’s zero acknowledgment of the crowd, sampled dialogue taking the place of between-track banter (which doesn’t really work, apart from including Alan Bennett singing Larkin’s They Fuck You Up Your Mum and Dad to the tune of Last of the Summer Wine), but such remoteness – when attached to material from their recent self-titled EP and boy/girl vocals heavy on the delay – ensures that mood is sculpted.

They are however a somewhat strange support when contrasted with Kate Jackson’s upbeat poppy attitude. Indeed, with four piece The Wrong Moves providing the canvas, she works the stage as if it’s a far bigger venue, material from her recent British Home Movies LP sounding fresh and unfettered.

Should you want to be critical then perhaps there’s a suggestion that the themes she toys with – the thrall of first love, the pall of rejection – haven’t necessarily moved on from a 2006 vantage; that this is indie-pop divorced from its timeframe. And yes, there is that, but both Jackson’s good humour and sassy attitude are infectious, through the confidence of Homeward Bound, the geography of Future City, and on to the sheer energy of closer The End of Reason.

“What are we doing afterwards?” she asks the crowd. “Can I come to your party?” The answer’s an obvious 'yes.'