Performing forthcoming album Good, Bad, Happy, Sad to a sold-out house, Micachu And The Shapes’ set was thrilling and efficient, with a 40-minute running time.

In the dank, clammy heat of the Green Door grotto, the crowd respect generated by the avant-garde outfit was incontestable, as they smashed out a series of tracks with a compelling combination of raw punk loftiness offset by close-knit geniality.

It’s been three years since the Shapes released their last album Never, and band’s sound has inevitably shifted. With photos of the drummer wearing a Rough Trade T-shirt projected behind them, the aesthetic was reminiscent of early Fugazi, and the Shapes projected a similar atmosphere of autonomy from the mainstream in both sound and imagery.

Mica Levi rasped over Marc Pell’s frantic syncopations and Raisa Khan’s melodic, arrhythmic keyboard, in an oddly soothing monotone. Having announced their final song as “a nice relaxing one” to panicked cries of “Holiday!” and “Easy!”, Levi grinned unapologetically: “Don’t know any of those, haven’t practiced them”.

Recently spray-painted T-shirts were for sale. We all bought one, dedicated Shapes acolytes and lacking her considerable talent, wanting a little of Levi's insouciance for our own.

Five stars