When The Like first appeared in 2005, they seemed tailor-made for big things. Four sassy girls, each one the daughter of a rock ’n’ roll super producer: they had style, attitude and a collection of punky, energetic and neatly packaged pop rock songs that should have had everyone from school kids to suits salivating. Somehow though, the hype faded, their debut Are You Thinking What I’m Thinking didn’t sell many copies and the venues stayed in the small hundreds.

After undergoing a slight line-up change, they’re back, with a new album Release Me which has been mostly produced by two big names: Mark Ronson, the man responsible for shaping Amy Winehouse and Lily Allen’s breakthrough albums and Phantom Planet frontman Alex Greenwald.

Still to be playing the Jericho at this stage of their career will probably come as a disappointment, but the room’s packed and the assembled crowd get treated to a brilliant set.

From the retro feel to their look and innocent lyrics that talk of going to dances and eating candy canes, it would be reasonable to assume The Like hark back to the best bits from Tamla Motown and 60s doo wop girl groups, but their sound is rawer and less precise than either of those influences, with as much Sleater Kinney in the mix as Shangri-Las.

There are no synchronised moves nor matching outfits, no hand claps and no cheeky winks at strategically planned points, just a tightness and conciseness in their song writing and live performance, with their set coming in at a tidy 45 minutes.

Cuts like He’s Not A Boy and Trouble In Paradise sound like Hard Days Night-era Beatles cross bred with the Pretenders, sparkly guitars gel with a sugary sweet pop melody, while Release Me is more like early Blondie. Sparky, confident and distinctive, there’s no reason The Like shouldn’t have a lot more success this time.