No one wants to hear rock stars talk about the weather. But there's such a disconnect between Best Coast's signature sun-kissed, echo-drenched LA-guitar sound and the grim Glasgow night outside that Bethany Cosentino feels compelled to acknowledge it. "We tried to bring the sun with us," she murmurs, as a thematically appropriate preamble to the woozy Summer Mood. "It didn't work."

In the low-ceilinged crush of the ABC2, the opening night of their latest UK tour initially feels like one of those sold-out gigs where people are there to be seen rather than to watch the buzz band. The striking Cosentino has just launched her own Stevie Nicks-inspired vintage fashion range with a hip retailer, and it's a notably well-dressed crowd that has braved the rain. But despite Best Coast's irresistible rhythms, there's an alarming lack of dancing, although songs from their just-released second album, The Only Place, are greeted warmly.

Ever since Zooey Deschanel scarpered to TV, there has been a vacancy for a lo-fi indie-rock poster-girl, and the US media seems determined to wedge Cosentino into that role. It's tempting, therefore, to sift through new tracks for clues as to how she's handling the exposure. The repetitive refrain of How They Want Me To Be resists any profound interpretation, but it's also a deceptively demanding melody that Cosentino nails every time. It's a recurring theme: no florid lyrical conceits, but an appealingly wavering vocal that still hits its marks.

Things finally get giddy during the encore. Up All Night – the only Best Coast song to break the four-minute barrier, which essentially makes it their Stairway to Heaven – is a tear-stained, post-breakup song that ends, devastatingly, with just Cosentino and her guitar. With all emotional barriers demolished, the crowd finally go hopping mad for the double-speed breakdown of the yearning I Want to. And belatedly, the connection is made.