Seattle’s all-girl four-piece La Luz played their first UK gig at the Green Door Store on Sunday and, as the venue slowly filled out, their confidence – at first perhaps knocked by sound issues and feedback – grew palpably.

Touring their excellent It’s Alive debut, the girls delivered a surf-tinged, often heartbroken set of songs with choreography and knowing smiles. Their collective coquettishness continued apace as they asked the audience to vote on who in the band had the best English accent (“Tea and crumpets for dinner tonight?”), and by the closing, scintillating Pink Slime they were being begged for a second encore.

Special mention must also go to frontwoman Shana Cleveland, whose deftness with her Strat shone through, although – rightly or wrongly – she gave the impression of being in a black mood and appeared somewhat sour-faced but all the more intriguing for it throughout.

Drummer Marian Li Pino too was stunning at her craft, riffing on the edge of her snare and using complex fills at the most unexpected moments. But really, this debut was about the four girls as a unit and their sound, so sweetly retro yet never overly revivalist, was intoxicating.