Towards the end of tonight’s show, an increasingly sweaty Eddie Argos describes Art Brut as “big enough to make it a job, but not enough to be rich.” Now entering their third decade and almost 20 years removed from their biggest hits, such a statement could easily be made with a sense of withering despair. Instead, Argos says it with a sly grin, a determined positivity clear behind his irony-laden diatribes. And that’s the secret to the continuing allure of Art Brut: a self-deprecating streak combined with a self-awareness which ensures that the snarky humour is perennially updated; there’s no sense of stasis or resting on laurels here.

The band have been steadily making great songs for years since their breakthrough with Bang Bang Rock & Roll back in 2005, especially ones that amp up the punk edge of the band’s arrangements. ‘Pump up the Volume’ kicks off on a high and songs like ‘Axl Rose’, ‘She Kissed Me (And It Felt Like a Hit)’ and ‘St Pauli’ demonstrate that Argos’ knack for writing shout-a-long catchy hooks hasn’t diminished over the years, and in one of their newest songs ‘Wham! Bang! Pow! Let’s Rock Out!’ they’ve got a shitkicker of a set closer that demands crowd participation.

However, it’s the songs from their brilliant debut that really light up the night. ‘Little Brother’ comes first, with the now-typical mid-song speech explaining that it’s now him (Argos) that’s the one his parents are worried about (the brother in question is a 42 year old teacher). There’s also a few snappy comments on the band’s poor timing given the contemporary prominence of shouty indie music (IDLES, Sleaford Mods) and an apology for doing a meandering comedic monologue just a week after the Fringe. But all is forgiven for the revolutionary communism chat and a hilariously woeful attempt to interpolate Chappell Roan’s ‘Hot to Go’: don’t expect to see Art Brut blowing up TikTok any time soon.

‘Modern’ Art is only supposed to be two minutes long, but it’s at least ten tonight as Argos wades into the crowd to tell a story about tasting Van Gogh paintings, intermixed with a few dynamic pricing jibes, as we all crouch in anticipation of a final breakdown (you can almost hear the creaking of knees). During ‘Formed a Band’ (which opens the encore, when surely it should open the show?!) he updates the lyrics to “we’re just talking to people in their mid to late 30s” which I think is being generous if the difficulty of that crouch is anything to go by. When I last saw Art Brut in 2019 they had updated the “we’re gonna be the band that writes the song/ that makes Israel and Palestine get along” line to one about uniting the Labour party, so it’s a sad reminder of the current state of affairs that the original line is now back in.

And then there’s ‘Emily Kane’, surely the biggest, brightest and best of the Art Brut tunes? It’s played with minimal updates tonight, which is just fine for a song that captures youthful, exuberant young romance so perfectly. And Argos even lets us know that it actually made the real Emily Kane get in touch with him, which gives the song an even sweeter edge.

Ending with the night with a pair of songs from 2007’s It’s a Bit Complicated is a bit of a left turn when songs like ‘Good Weekend’ and ‘Bang Bang Rock & Roll’ are left out, but ‘Nag Nag Nag Nag’ and ‘Post Soothing Out’ are crackers in their own right and keep the intensity high right to the death.

Art Brut got plenty of adulation 20 years ago, but it feels like they’ve been underrated ever since. Tonight shows they’re still a force to be reckoned with, something well known by the packed house in the Voodoo Rooms, and ably shown by the seemingly impromptu encore chant: “Art Brut, Top of the Pops! Art Brut, Top of the Pops!” In an alternate, better universe, they sure would be.