British Sea Power @ The Arches, 26 Jan

In a recent interview with The Skinny, British Sea Power's lead singer Yan explained that the potentially dangerous naming of their third album Do You Like Rock Music? was a reaction to what they perceived as a sonic stalemate in modern music. Bands today, he reckons, lack the edge of an Eddie Cochran or Elvis Presley. With their one man brass section in the shape of eight stitches in his head, proudly displaying the battle scars to prove their intent (after a recent on-stage accident involving him, a trombone and a PA stand), BSP have vowed to breathe some life into the contemporary British scene, and wrestle it back from the ubiquitously drab NME cover stars.

Whether they will be successful remains to be seen (hell, I'm not even sure the scene needs rescuing), but for the first half of tonight's extended set in The Arches, the self anointed saviours are strangely subdued. Stripped of their penchant for gimmicks and costumes, their interaction with a partisan Glasgow crowd is minimal as they plod their way professionally, if not triumphantly, through highlights from their new album. The turning point comes in the form of a jubilant siren rising from the tail end of another new song, Atom, acting simultaneously as a wakeup call for the band, a warning sign for the audience and a blaring pitchfork in the arse of guitarist Martin Noble as he leaps head first from the stage. From here on in, it's plain sailing as BSP remind us and themselves why they've acquired a reputation as being one of the most enjoyable live acts in the country. The glorious extended instrumental outro to recent hit Waving Flags is as good as a Tourist Board advertisement to prospective immigrants (misleading as it may be). "So welcome in", Yan sings accommodatingly, as the tunnel is pumped full of the band's patented peaceful avian sound effects.

Raucous renditions of The Spirit of St Louis and Oh! Lucifer sit more than comfortably alongside sing-along numbers in debut single Fear of Drowning and the plainly lovely Blackout. BSP will be the first to admit that their material hasn't evolved massively over the course of three albums, but tonight's show demonstrates an altogether more pleasing quality: consistency. If their tame opening alludes to a new-found maturity (which is frankly unlikely given our recent chat with Yan), then it's an unwelcome development. Daft, smart, loud, tuneful and imaginative: all adjectives the latter half is deserving of and not surprisingly, a thumbnail sketch of what attracted us to British Sea Power in the first place.