Caution is evidently needed when moving around at a Pins gig. A woman who wandered off to the bar or the toilet returned and appeared slightly startled to realise the group's singer Faith Vern was now among the crowd, complete with microphone stand and considerable swagger. It wasn't even the first time the band had wandered among the faithful, as guitarist Lois MacDonald had gone for a stroll early on, taking care to not bump any punters with her guitar in the process.
Such interaction is one of the advantages of being in a sweatbox like Nice N' Sleazy, a location that was fairly busy but is also one of Glasgow's smaller venues. However, the setting also offered a feeling that Pins are a band that should have been bigger, only for the vagaries of fate to not fall in their favour. After all, the foursome ambled on armed with both a clutch of fine songs from a career that has lasted over a decade, and a leather clad look that, put simply, makes them look like the coolest gang in your - or indeed any - town has just walked onstage.
MacDonald fused that style with a bouncing, gleeful energy, hollering out backing vocals whether or not she was near the microphone stand or not, and there was a cheerful vibe running through the whole night, to the extent that it concluded with audience members asked to clamber up on stage and pull shapes during the garage rock ricochet finale of "Girls Like Us", with a fair number accepting the offer.
The 55 minutes preceding that had mostly pulled material from the Manchester group's second album "Wild Nights", now 11 years old, with the anniversary serving as an excuse to initially hit the road last year. Both on record and in a live setting it served up short, snappy songs that rattled through some classic influences - 60s bubblegum pop, the Wall of Sound, the distortion of the Jesus and Mary Chain or My Bloody Valentine - with suitable vim and vigour.
It meant the set skipped merrily along, taking in a filthy garage rocker like "Young Girls" one moment, and the handclap and harmonies led "Dazed by You" the next, all twangy guitar and the sort of beat from drummer Abbi Philips that should be accompanied by a montage of teenagers grooving at the beach.
Dancing was a consistent feature here. Kyoko Swan's bass was loping and at times leading, while Vern mixed her vocals between sweet and acidic, occasionally clattering a star shaped tambourine as she did so, and the inclination on the likes of a sashaying "Bad Things" was to move your feet.
Thankfully, the anniversary element did not lead to the tedious format that is now common, where bands play through an old album in the exact same order as on the record itself. Instead they weaved a fair few other tracks too, from the rousing, militant clatter of "All Hail" to the night's finest track, the doom-laden post-punk and call and response vocals of "Trouble", a deliriously fuzzy slice of noise.
There was the odd number that became lost amid the group's influences, most notably "Got It Bad" seemingly wanting some Phil Spector production without offering enough underneath it. However, the set's rapid-fire nature meant any tedium was avoided, and the likes of a fiery "Serve The Rich" felt as prescient as ever. No new material was on show, though, but hopefully that will follow sometime, as Pins remain a hidden gem of a band.
