Haim – Brixton Academy, London 06/03/14

Just a couple of years ago, Haim played a London show at the Sebright Arms – something which they don’t tire of reminding a packed out Brixton Academy tonight. It’s been a sharp rise to prominence for the trio, but not undeserved. The BBC Sound of 2013 accolade was obviously a jetpack up the festival bills, but it was far from empty hype, with last year’s debut album absolutely packed with effortlessly realised pop songs.

Despite the quality of their debut, tonight’s set feels the strain of having risen to prominence so quickly. Haim are clearly having the time of their lives to be here, and a lot of the time their bewilderment is endearing and humble. But mostly it plays out a little try-hard; asking showboating clichés to bear more weight than their young career can bear, and denting the simple clarity of their songs.

Almost all songs tonight move through some motions of hokey crowd manipulation. They can barely get through a verse without letting slip an unrestrained “come on Londahhhhn!”, or letting each and every build-up feed a simmering clap-along. But the effect suffers from the fact that their live performance isn’t rendered anywhere near as sharply as their studio recordings. As streamers shoot over the crowd during the final chorus to “Forever” – following a particularly extended tease of a build-up – you’re left wondering whether the music really earned the pomp.

At its worst, the stuff sounds amateurish and under rehearsed. On record, songs like “If I Could Change Your Mind” wear the rounded corners of their production nicely. But tonight there’s an element of emperor’s new clothes; the chorus falling flat through a drawl, its melody dribbling away. The lauded three-way vocal interplay also suffers. Unassuming album highlight “Go Slow” comes apart at the seams, with fluffed notes and dropped cues meaning the chorus’ silky elegance misses the mark badly.

There’s songs here which still can’t be faulted of course. The way they scatter syllables across the bridge and chorus to “Don’t Save Me” is irresistible; preserving the proficiency of its recording, with the added jolt of a live rhythm section. Also, hearing the trio club together to lose themselves in a wig out is similarly energising – moments when the band spend more time actually having fun, rather than telling us they’re having fun, or asking us to have more fun.

Sadly, these moments are a little too thin on the ground. It would be difficult to ruin a song as effortlessly brilliant as “The Wire”, and indeed they don’t. But what you take away from this set isn’t so much how good these songs are, but how well they were recorded. Tonight we see Haim in an adjustment period as they grow from the Sebright Arms into the Brixton Academy, and it’s the songs which take the knock. This may change in time, but for now, the best place to hear Haim is on record, rather than on stage.

• Photo by Burak Cingi. See the full gallery here.