Wolf Alice @ Manchester Academy, 9 Mar

Sometimes the good guys win. Not as often as good sense and good taste demands, but in this cruel and crackpot world you pick your battles. As Wolf Alice return to town in support of acclaimed debut My Love is Cool, the sold-out notices are again a given. As if anyone ever dared doubt it, here's further evidence that taking time to perfect your craft (stage and song), rather than rushing to catch a fickle wave, is the way to go. 

Tonight is thundering confirmation that Wolf Alice have gradually become a gutsy and accomplished live act. As drummer Joel Amey builds a deepening musicality, guitarist Theo Ellis clearly has designs on taking his generation's Jonny Greenwood role, ever more favoring detail and texture over bar chord cop-out. Ellie Rowsell, who would once battle nerves through a steely onstage focus, is a more compelling performer now she's properly at ease.

As the album comes alive again (The Wonderwhy, louche and breezy; a joyous, singalong Freazy; Giant Peach, a bruising sign-off), tonight it's their original wares that best define Wolf Alice's enterprising ouvre. She, from 2013's debut Blush EP, is wiry and headlong: a squalling, neo-grunge riposte to lazy early labelling. But it's their calling card's epic title track and the trippy folk of 90 Mile Beach that really soar and spin. They light up a lengthy 17 song set that is testament to the savvy execution of the Wolf Alice plan: nearly a year since their debut confirmed them as serious contenders, no-one's even thinking about album number two.