Whitney @ Brudenell Social Club, Leeds, 20 Jun

"We hate this show."

A deathly silence falls across the Brudenell Social Club. After all, the venue and its capacity crowd has so far played exuberantly generous host to Whitney, so quite why drummer and vocalist Julien Ehrlich should choose to take a shot at what had otherwise seemed like a thoroughly pleasant evening remains unclear.

In actual fact, he and the rest of the band were only taking aim at the well-loved American sitcom The Golden Girls. Quite what it was about that series that rubbed Ehrlich so badly up the wrong way is unclear, but it shouldn't be allowed to detract from the fizzing, palpable confidence with which he and guitarist Max Kakacek, backed by another four musicians, bring last year's Light Upon the Lake to life. Whitney are very much on a victory lap at this point, one that will encompass Glastonbury this coming weekend, and given what an unlikely success their album was, you can perhaps forgive them for feeling a touch discombobulated as they continue to take it around the world. 

The funny thing is that on record, these songs feel minimal, even when we know there must have been plenty of backing for the duo; brass and strings zip and out. They feel like a much meatier proposition on stage, though, with the woozy likes of Golden Days and The Falls coming over all sparkling pop.

That said, tonight's turn from the Chicago outfit is replete with the sense that they're desperate to move onto the next thing; this has been a far longer promotional period than they could ever have imagined when they were piecing together these songs in the thick of a cold Chicago winter. Still, you wonder whether the reaction from the crowd tonight might send them on the plane home thinking that if they can recapture the rapture that No Woman inspires, they'll be well on their way.