Ladyhawke, Leeds Cockpit, 10 November 2012

The debut album by Ladyhawke, aptly titled 'Ladyhawke', was an electro-pop shuffle of wonderment. Sounding like Stevie Nicks fronting Jefferson Airplane on a wave of synth, it was electric, capable of being played daily, loud and proud.

With the second release 'Anxiety', the impact was less immediate. Seldom do second albums burn as brightly as the initial rush, but here was an opportunity to see the hawk live, like Hudson.

The second most famous Pip, after Great Expectations.

Standing in the Cockpit's second gig room, the Garage (missing a trick of calling it The Hold), the band entered on stage at a sprightly 8.50pm. With a lot of wool between the collective group, the show kicked off with 'In The Back of the Van', a brilliant song setting the scene for more pop-fuelled noise to follow. Blending the highlights of the debut album including the awesome 'Paris is Burning' with new songs, the setlist was great - the only part lacking was delivery.

The food equivalent of electro pop.

For me a massive part of a gig is the unpredictability, there's a certain charm in a band suddenly playing a long lost song from the archives or being fired up by events and tearing the venue a new one. Whilst playing songs live is an amazing art form, not least with electro-pop which builds up layers of noise like a fine Viennese cake and is a feat to achieve between four people (two of whom were running on the spot like treadmill pros), it's just lacks that added extra.

There was no punch, no drama, no off-the-cuff B-side gem that suddenly ignited the crowd...it was just OK. And that's fine, but I couldn't help think halfway through that we've been spoilt for gigs this past month with the incredible PINS, gloom synth of 2:54 and the punk-like riot racket of the Cribs and indeed this year. Maybe you can have too much of a good thing...