Something isn’t quite right about Belle and Sebastian. Though they’re all about intricately layered sounds arranged to perfection, their live set rarely lacks in bombast. Though their songs constantly defy the sum of the band’s parts, it’s clear from early on, that tonight’s show revolves around founder member Stuart Murdoch and guitarist Stevie Jackson. Though their songs are upbeat, dainty affairs that set the scene for any spring morning, closer inspection reveals sinister tales of religion, sexuality and all the other things that make life complicated. With any other band this wouldn’t work. With Belle and Sebastian, though, these contradictions just add to the attraction.

Opening their Australian tour for their latest album, The Life Pursuit, at the Perth Concert Hall, the Glasgow septet/octet/nonet spend two hours exploring both sides of every coin. We ease into the set with The State I Am in, a track full of the subtleties that make Belle and Sebastian great. There’s the obvious bracket of new material early in the set ( Another Sunny Day, Funny Little Frog, Sukie in the Graveyard) but it’s balanced nicely with old favourites ( Dylan in the Movies, Electronic Renaissance).

They may have done this a thousand times before but it takes half-a-dozen songs for the band to loosen up. As Murdoch removes his jacket during Electronic Renaissance he begins to move around the stage more freely and engage the crowd at will. He even tells a joke.

Though Murdoch is more at home when he isn’t stuck behind a guitar, he still appears the unwitting frontman. He is pushing forty after all. Jackson, on the other hand, balances out all of Murdoch’s inadequacies. Without the burden of the ‘lead singer’ tag, the band’s co-founder has the camp swagger to steal the limelight at any opportunity. Unsurprisingly, he draws one of the biggest cheers of the night when he admits Western Australia is home to his favourite beer in the world. That really is something, coming from a Glaswegian.

The mid-set breather, in which a flawless airing of Dress Up in You is followed by Murdoch, Jackson and bassist/guitarist Bobby Kildea’s acoustic rendition of Piazza, New York Catcher, again emphasises the creative core of the band — that is, if you don’t count Isobel Campbell, who famously left the band midway through their American tour in 2002. Violinist Sarah Martin pulls her weight when contributing cello and the occasional backing vocal, but you get the impression she’s still not quite comfortable taking Campbell’s place when handling lead vocals.

That said, the ever-expanding lineup means there is always something different to watch. While Murdoch and Jackson are always at the centre, the highlights always occur when all hands are on deck ( The Boy With the Arab Strap, I’m a Cuckoo). At the same time, the amount of people and instruments on stage hinders them slightly, as some nasty gaps break the set up. The two main characters pass the time with banter, but as Murdoch has already pointed out, “we didn’t come all the way to Australia for me to tell you a joke”.

As the band find their groove, the crowd loosens up as well and as the set draws to a close it’s almost like a party. During Jonathan David one girl is asked onto the stage to act out a love triangle with Murdoch and Jackson while another fan gets to sing Campbell’s lines in set closer Lazy Line Painter Jane. According to the band’s frontman, there’s some advice for us all in If You Find Yourself Caught in Love and at this point there is barely anyone in the audience not willing to take it in.