Like Halley's Comet, the flowering of the Titan Arum plant . . . and New York's favourite danceable indie-pop heroes, We Are Scientists playing in a high street pub.

Last time they visited this city, they packed the main room at 53 Degrees so it's little surprise Church Street's tiny Kolor Bar is rammed to the gills with excited punters for a special acoustic set.

It's an anomaly in a series of instore appearances currently being undertaken to promote their new album, Brain Thrust Mastery, out this week. Simply because record store, Action Records wasn't big enough to cope with the Scientists, we lucky lucky people get them in a bar instead.

Watch video of each of the band's songs, live in Preston.

Previewing the new album by deconstructing and rebuilding its constituent parts in a whole new form really works.

Thus album tracks like tonight's opener, Chick Lit, become sweetly harmonious tuneful meanderings which vocalist Keith Murray says reminds him of Simon and Garfunkel's Scarborough Fair while first single, After Hours, gains a whole new poignant resonance.

Given this treatment, even their fiercely hooky pop classic, The Great Escape, is magically transformed into a meanderingly offbeat down-tempo jazz tune which closes the evening on a high.

But it's We Are Scientists themselves who really make this memorable.

Their vaguely surreal between-song ramblings suit this intimate setting like no other and the atmosphere is so laid back, it's virtually horizontal.

Even when they make three false starts to This Scene Is Dead, it just adds to the night, rather than detracts as they simply laugh it off and launch into Impatience instead. Textbook stuff.

Judith Dornan

>> Big band plays at small Preston venue (with exclusive video)