Sons and Daughters are one of those bands who seem destined to be criminally ignored by the majority of the record buying public, and that's a crying shame.

Maybe 'are' could be substituted for 'were', though, because a cursory listen to new album This Gift (sadly not out 'til the New Year, pop pickers) betrays the fact that they're in possession of a glut of tunes that, in some kind of perfect parallel universe, ought to see them catapulted into whatever passes as the spotlight these days.

Be it a blog frenzy, a top 20 chart position, whatever, here is a band that deserves acclaim. Their third LP offers a pop sheen previously missing from artfully-jagged (but-cool-as-fuck) prior releases Love The Cup and The Repulsion Box, and they're a shining example of a band given time to develop under the watchful eye of an exemplary label (Domino, who one can only hope afford similar time to their current great white hopes, Wild Beasts and These New Puritans).

Tonight at Plug they're in the form of their lives; slick as you like but still rough enough around the edges to genuinely thrill. Frontwoman Adele Bethel has the audience in the palm of her manicured hands from the word go. Who could fail to fall for that Scottish burr? Yeah, they talk the talk and walk the walk, aesthetically speaking, but at the end of the day it's the tunes, old and new, that truly convince.

Lead single 'Gilt Complex' (think Blondie if they came from Transylvania instead of NYC) brings the house down relatively early on (though, sadly, its B-side - a cover of Adamski's 'Killer' - is absent from the set) but, equally, the film-inspired pop-noir of 'Darling' and rattle 'n' strum set closer 'House In My Head' get our hearts beating just as quickly. This new, altogether glossier direction is far from a bad thing, particularly if it exposes a different audience to their fantastic, malevolent Highland dark-pop.

"It's the first time we've played a show of our own in Sheffield," beams Bethel, "thanks for coming out!" The pleasure is all ours, though, particularly when the crowd-pleasing picks from 2005's The Repulsion Box get an airing.

First time around, the likes of 'Hunt', 'Rama Lama' and 'Taste The Last Girl' may have been stereo staples but tonight, mixed in with the new stuff, we're reminded just how incendiary these songs can be in a live environment. Tonight, they sound nothing short of phenomenal.

Plus, with the quartet shouting along in glorious, gung-ho abandon all the while, you feel like you're watching a genuine rock 'n' roll band. In an age where Scouting For Girls sell bucket-loads of records, that's pretty refreshing. They even play debut single 'Johnny Cash' "in the style of Iggy Pop", complete with a passage from 'I Wanna Be Your Dog'. A Good Thing, for sure.

Sons and Daughters, then: overlooked maybe, but certainly not under-appreciated. It might be dropping a bit late for Christmas, but, on this evidence, come early 2008 you'd be foolish not to unwrap This Gift.