Come show time on the first night of their biggest British tour to date, We Are Scientists were nowhere to be seen. Instead, the crowd was being subjected to an ear-shredding soundcheck that included a torturous, ten-minute test of a kick drum. If the plan was to disabuse fans of any pre-gig expectation, it worked. When the Brooklyn-based quartet finally appeared, it was to sighs of relief, rather than a sense of excitement.

Unfortunately, it was a rotten atmosphere in which to launch Ghouls, the opening track on Brain Thrust Mastery, We Are Scientists' second album, released last month, when it narrowly missed the Top Ten. The frontman Keith Murray's robotic, unemotional vocals were swathed in sombre, electro-rock. By its close, Ghouls was majestic, but still it failed to rouse fans.

Dispatching their best-known song second in the set did the trick, though. The still glorious Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt, from their gold-selling debut With Love and Squalor (2005), set Barrowland alight in an instant. Pints of beer flew overhead, arms punched skywards and the “My body is your body” refrain of the chorus was chanted back at the band. It was a high they struggled to equal for the next hour.

At their best, We Are Scientists borrow the Killers' trick of blending jangly, British indie influences with bombastic American rock. The old song Inaction and new number After Hours both managed it - the former throwing in some of the artiness of Franz Ferdinand - and were rewarded with crowd surfing that came close to a stage invasion.

Often, though, songs felt relentless rather than inventive, as if making lots of lots of loud, intriguing sounds was more important than tying down a tune.

The founding members Murray and bassist Chris Cain shared the limelight and lots of in-jokes. An oddball couple - the tall, skinny singing guitarist is a pin-up with a floppy fringe and jerky dance moves, while a mostly motionless Cain looked rather nerdy with his small moustache and thick glasses - they bantered about romancing walruses, boating in Miami and their failed attempts to get girls.

Their easy demeanour was endearing, but it didn't mask the fact that nothing from Brain Thrust Mastery was as catchy as Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt. or It's a Hit, another early single that brought the show to a triumphant close.

Tour: Sheffield Octagon tomorrow; Birmingham Carling Academy Fri; Nottingham Rock City Sat; Norwich UEA Sun; Southampton Guildhall, Apr 22; Bristol Carling Academy Apr 23; Shepherds Bush Empire, Apr 24, 25

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