Against The Current @ The Garage, Glasgow, 25 Sep

After making our way to the top of The Garage’s tall staircases, it’s noticeable that the room isn’t that filled out – something that comes as a bit of surprise considering the amount of fans tonight’s act seem to have acquired over the past few years. Nonetheless, Against The Current are here to spread the word of their new album Past Lives – set to drop at the end of the week – as they prepare to bring their infectious, electronically-fuelled pop-rock out on the road for a spin.

Before the main act, The Faim get their chance in the spotlight. The Aussie four-piece carry a charismatic boy band swagger, mixed with the energy of a vibrant punk-rock act and an engrossing sound. Tinged with electronics and sweeping synth melodies, their tracks translate pretty well live – especially frontman Josh Raven, who despite having a cold has some seriously powerful pipes that are reminiscent of Panic! at the Disco's Brendon Urie. It’s visible to see the band are really giving their all and it leaves many crowd members nodding their heads in approval.

After they leave the stage a quick glance around the room still shows it to be missing a few bodies, but there’s still enough to create a high-spirited, lively atmosphere as Against The Current burst on stage. Leading in with new single Strangers Again, the crowd are clearly loving the band’s fresh material, as voices reverberate around the venue, almost drowning out dynamic frontwoman Chrissy Costanza.

Costanza is literally bouncing across the stage, leaving nothing behind in her performance, and it really gets the room buzzing. Vocally, she hardly misses a beat, sounding supremely confident as she reaches higher notes, like on Gravity and the moody Chasing Ghosts. Her energy levels matched with her pitch-perfect delivery are a captivating watch, while the rest of the band seem a little static (but perhaps most would with Costanza controlling the limelight). At one point, she’s gifted both a Flag of Scotland and a Pride flag which she dons for a couple of tracks before politely folding them to save for later.

Of course, with the band’s sophomore record being released only a few days after this show, the plugging is quite relentless. Aside from that, the four new singles pre-released from Past Lives sound really polished and slick live, even if they do lack a bit of drive and punch that some of their older songs provide. The trio even debut another fresh track in Come Alive, that gets a great reception, as well as many phones in the air to assumedly share online later. A one-two encore of the lovely, acoustic feel-good In Our Bones is a gentle and pleasant addition to the set, before arguably the band’s darkest track to date Wasteland which sees them exit with a bang, drawing a solid show to a satisfying conclusion.