Stereolab @ SWG3, Glasgow, 8 Dec

Manguebeat band Mombojó are first up tonight, blending up traditional Brazilian rhythms with contemporary electronica, hip-hop and indie-rock. At times this comes off like South American krautrock, at others like otherworldly lounge rock. Their final song runs to more than ten minutes and even has time for a couple of rap breakdowns. It's all capped off by a rousing proto-metal crescendo – the band clearly moved by the rapt crowd on their first visit to Scotland.

When Stereolab came back after their decade-long hiatus, they received the warm welcome reserved for cult favourites such as themselves. Their shows at that time were essentially 'best-of' celebrations that, paired with the sheer gratitude of the devoted fanbase, ensured a triumphant atmosphere. Now they've been back for a few years and are more in the groove of a regular touring band. It feels wrong to put such peerless innovators in the bracket of a normal band, but tonight's show feels more run-of-the-mill that you might expect.

More than half the set is drawn from their excellent new album, Instant Holograms on Metal Film, and sounds great tonight, but it doesn't seem to move the crowd much. Vermona F Transistor sees the introduction of Lætitia Sadier's trombone, a nice touch that adds flavour to a few songs. Tim Gane's keys zip with crisp autonomy, eking melody out of unlikely syncopated rhythms, while Andy Ramsay's drums provide a steady, propellent foundation.

Peng! 33 suddenly throws us back to the early 90s. This punky gem of a song is wildly out of step with the rest of the setlist, but injects a faster, guitar-driven energy to the night, Sadier adding gauzy feedback to proceedings that are otherwise very polished. Although a few other older songs appear, this one is the biggest outlier and serves as a reminder of what else we're missing.

Sadier is typically deadpan in her chat, remarking on Christmas, Gods and the narratives we believe in, noting that capitalism/fascism/neoliberalism is a wound (before Melodie is a Wound) and asking if we like her dress (it's very sparkly). But she, and perhaps the rest of the band, aren't impervious to the somewhat lacklustre audience reaction, reassuring us that “it's okay – we like the silence” after a less than stirring round of applause.

Miss Modular is one of the highlights of the night; funky and loungy, with a motorik groove that can't help but elicit a few cautious shuffles. Percolator is a hypnotic, electronic treat that pairs well with the main set closer, Electrified Teenybop! It's an instrumental, synth-filled exercise that doesn't quite reach the heights you might expect at this time of night. Immortal Hands and Cybele's Reverie form the encore, the latter in particular one of the best songs of the night, helping to win back a bit of favour with one of Sadier's best vocal showcases and an intricate layering of voices and violins.

The lack of 'hits' is the only real fault you can really level at the performance (and perhaps a few too many lengthy interstitial moments), but it's quite a big one, as it seems to sap the energy and atmosphere from the room. The band offer no concessions to nostalgia and you have to respect their relentless forward-looking vigour. But when even a rare older cut is reasonably obscure (Household Names), you can be forgiven for hoping we might be blessed with a French Disko, Brakhage or Lo Boob Oscillator. It's not to be and we'll have to settle instead for brilliant tunes played by a crack band. Oh well...