Best Coast @ The Kazimier, Liverpool, 30 Oct

Coming of age can be a difficult task when you’ve created the perfect teenage soundtrack but that’s the tricky conundrum facing LA fuzz rockers Best Coast. Five years on from their wonderful reverb-tastic debut Crazy for You, it’s hard not to think that Bethany Cosentino and Bob Bruno need to bring something more to their frat party than just teenage heartbreak and a nice line in surf-punk about cats and weed.

Second album The Only Place saw them dabble with country but the good news is that, as this thrilling live rebirth demonstrates, Best Coast have now found a spot-on cocktail of power-pop and psychedelic maturity, which allows Cosentino to elaborate on more adult concerns while keeping that wonderful naivety of youth that made their debut so special.

Beginning with the pop fizz of Heaven Sent, Cosentino is a beguiling presence, her dark fringe covering her face as she ignites each song with both a dreamy sexiness and bleary fragility. The band have recently criticised the sexist tone of some reviewers but it’s hard to deny the glamour she brings to proceedings.

While some critics have voiced concern that the new professionalism displayed on their latest album has left the duo ignoring what made them so special, live they are different proposition. The slew of old material combines perfectly with the newer stuff and there’s a real sense that although this is a band clearly moving on they’re still determined  to stay true to their devotees; Joyful renditions of When I’m with You, Crazy for You and The End send nostalgic hearts soaring.

As the teenage girls at this all-ages show crowd the front of the stage for a gloriously poptastic Boyfriend, the message is clear: Best Coast are growing up but they're still teenagers at heart.