Having made the short hop across the Hudson river, New York-based jumpy-pop rock duo We Are Scientists descended on a wet Liberty State Park, NJ, hoping to lift the punter’s spirits out of the water-logged mire. With a track record of endless live gigs, famously spending close to 20 months touring Britain, this was their first serious return to the stage since last summer.

APW was a perfect opportunity to stretch musical legs before their latest album anticipated for this fall. This was no warm-up though. An energetic tempo was set early on, opening with the circuitous ‘Let’s See It’, a standout track from their recent album Brain Thrust Mastery (BTM). Nods to their early years came from the chart-friendly ‘Nobody Move Nobody Get Hurt’, and the darker ‘Lousy Reputation’. Fans were also treated to a snippet of new material with a song those in the know have dubbed ‘Carol’, and with a sound that some would consider a welcome return to form after the mixed reception of BTM.

By this point lead singer Keith Murray was bounding from amp to monitor, but unfortunately the crowd were less responsive. Granted, at festivals the crowd is not a sweaty mass of aficionados, but they should be music enthusiasts all the same. The throng here were static, sterile. Not even the uncharacteristically dominant bass of Chris Cain and the beat of ex-Razorlight drummer Andy Burrows could knock them into shape.

Such was the power of Chris and Andy that Keith almost played third fiddle, and when Lightspeed Champion made his cameo for the single ‘After Hours’ you were willing him to strum the acoustic just a little louder. After an all too brief performance of their trademark leftfield banter, the set ended with ‘The Great Escape’, and it was much too soon. Just 40 minutes had passed since they hit the stage. The crowd aside, this was an accomplished, if terse, roll-call of WAS hits which whetted appetites for their forthcoming third instalment of fun.