Britpop band Sleeper at The Wedgewood Rooms, Southsea: 'A well-deserved second act' | Review

During their initial run in the heady days of Britpop they notched up three top 10 albums and a run of catchy singles that tapped into a similar vein of suburban ennui and kitchen sink drama as Pulp.

And in Louise Wener they had a charismatic frontwoman who was also – gasp – not afraid to speak her mind in interviews.

However, as diminishing returns kicked in they called it a day.

Nineteen years later and with the nostalgia circuit beckoning, Sleeper reformed. But instead of just trotting out the old favourites they released a new album, The Modern Age, which made the top 20 and they have been a revitalised presence on the scene ever since. Indeed, they kick off tonight with one of its tracks, Cellophane.

The four-piece line-up is these days augmented live by an extra guitarist and keys player. Wener, who was once always behind a guitar, now doesn’t touch one all night. Wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the self-deprecating slogan 'Rock Hag', she is freed up to roam the stage and play more with the crowd. That said, the sold out house is curiously flat for the first few songs – it takes a while for this crowd to get going.

The set draws heavily on The It Girl, their biggest-selling album, and they have enough hits in the tank to dispatch with What Do I Do Now? early on. The disco-indebted Nice Guy Eddie and a jangling Statuesque soon follow.

Vegas from their debut, Smart, is introduced by Wener with a wry: ‘Our keyboard player wasn't even born when this was written.’

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It's no surprise to hear their throbbing cover of Blondie's Atomic from the peerless Trainspotting soundtrack. But during the encores, there is a more surprising cover-and-a-half. It’s introduced by drummer Andy Maclure who tells how he joined Sleeper after answering an advert in Melody Maker for a band influenced by ‘Pixies, The Smiths and The Partridge Family.’ He then tells us that The Smiths’ songs are too hard to learn, so instead they launch into Pixies' Wave of Mutilation, interspersed with Joy Division’s Love Will Tear Us Apart. Taking on two of alt-rock's sacred bands in one is no mean feat, but Sleeper pull it off with style.

The band have recently also been playing some acoustic shows, so for the opening encore Maclure steps out from behind the kit to join guitarist Jon Stewart on the acoustic guitar, to play We Should Be Together from their 'lost' album This Time Tomorrow. It's a welcome addition to the set.

With the glorious Inbetweener having been the main set closer, there's only one obvious choice left – Sale of The Century. The broad smile on Wener's face at the end says it all.

With very few bands resistant to eventually reforming these days, it's good to have one that deserves that second act.