Returning to the scene of the crime was always going to be tough. After the legendary Foals homecoming show in February (that this lucky so-and-so managed to squeeze into), something was needed to gently ease me back in. Luckily, We Are Scientists rolled into town upon their quasi-cabaret bandwagon of indie-rock anthems and stand-up hi-jinx with a new album to play.

While watching one of the excellent support acts – Superfood – from the side of the stage, guitarist Keith Murray and bass player Chris Cain could each be seen chugging from two-pint pitchers. Carrying the very same pitchers onto stage half an hour later, Cain reflected that “This creates a lot of expectation, the two pint pitcher.” The opposite was true with regards to their show.

Playing Oxford four days after the aforementioned new album – TV en Français – was released essentially makes this a show with an airing of plenty of new material that people haven’t had a chance to love or hate yet. It feels like a free ticket as they intersperse the old classics with batches of new music, although the new music is still very much so drawing from the We Are Scientists school of rock. What this does achieve is to create a very full set list. People listen attentively to new tracks like ‘Nice Guys’ with its Wolfmother-like mathy intro, and shades of The Shins in the verses of ‘Sprinkles’. Between this, everyone gets an opportunity to jump around and lose their marbles to tracks like ‘The Great Escape’ from the With Love And Squalor LP, and ‘Nice Guys’ from the Barbara LP.

Playing in between this dichotomy of old and new is Murray and Cain’s back-and-forth as they constantly try to outdo each other joking around. Cain asks if everyone is having a nice time, and decided to journey down a dark path in hypothetically suggesting a plane could crash into the building at any time as a mode of encouragement for those who were not. It’s a peculiar experience when you find yourself looking forward to tracks (that you are enjoying) ending just so you can hear them making dumb jokes.

The pre-encore finale ends with ‘Dinosaurs’, allowing the band to descend into a swampy groove as the bass drives the track. The encore arrives with one track name offering a fitting summary of what’s gone before – ‘Can’t Lose’. In six months time we may have a better perspective on how good their new record is, but one thing is always for certain with We Are Scientists. They know how to put on a show.