Poliça @ SWG3, 2 November

It has been observed that Poliça is a band having to go through its adolescence on the road. Started as a studio project by singer Channy Leaneagh and producer Ryan Olson, some lucrative verbal endorsement from the likes of Bon Iver persuaded the duo to become a fleshed out touring reality in a very short space of time, thus enabling them to court the wave of attention they currently enjoy.

Channy's backing musicians – two drummers and a bassist – are clearly a professional and accomplished musical unit. Recruited as guns-for-hire from the Minneapolis scene and with little time to gel since the band were speedily thrust into the limelight, the percussive duo in particular do an admirable job in translating the faux R&B of Give You The Ghost and giving the live show an added visually engaging element.

Leaneagh's distinctive vocals pose a potential logistical stumbling block given the heavy use of auto-tune on record so, live, she processes them through a bank of pedals, tweaking and distorting as she goes. It's a reasonably successful approach too.

Where tonight's set falls down is largely in the acoustics of SWG3. The womb-like bass resonance of the room, at the rear especially, masks the considerable number of backing tracks, meaning this becomes largely a case of some very loud drums and vocals and not a lot else, albeit the mix slightly improves towards the end.

As such, much of the underlying melody has to be implied in the listener's mind from previous experience of the LP. This perhaps also explains why break-out hit Dark Star is the highlight of the set, given its greater familiarity. With her new-wave, hippyish mannerisms, Leaneagh is an amiable and charismatic front-person, but musically Poliça don't come across as they perhaps should tonight, for reasons partly outwith their control.