Glasgow rockers Tijuana Bibles can’t wait to get back to King Tut’s this weekend – so they can shake off the curse of previous gigs there.

“Hopefully nothing goes wrong with it,” says the group’s guitarist James Brannigan.

“The last few times there’s been gremlins in the works. Last time the girl’s toilets flooded and the show was stopped. That was when we played at New Year a couple of years ago, and the time before that the PA blew up before we even got onstage. So fingers crossed that this time it’ll go well!”

The group – James, singer Tony Costello, bassist Donny Costello and drummer Mikey Dornan – are at the venue on both Friday and Saturday, unveiling a host of new tracks after spending some time away.

Their previous releases mixed up swampy blues, psychedelic rock and a dash of pop melody to create raw, rowdy songs, with recent release Pariah snarling rock n’ roll. James reckons the new material shows more of a political side for the band, who are originally from Coatbridge but now live in Glasgow.

And that means supporters of one political party in particular might not be welcome…

“We’ve been watching the world go by and with the political climate the way it is, that creates fertile ground the now,” says James.

“The new stuff is much more intense, we want something that’s very sharp. It’s all about challenging ourselves and how we can make this more interesting for ourselves. We’re all very passionate people and with the way things are in politics these days that filters through to the writing process. We’ll be checking on the door to make sure no Tories get in!”

That doesn’t mean the band are going to become Billy Bragg esque political writers, more that they’re just taking inspiration from what they see around them.

“You watch the news and see what’s being rammed down people’s throats, and it’s natural to push against that,” he says.

“We want to be the foxes in the chicken coop. There’s a lot of rubbish being said, so it’s about distilling that and coming out with something. I would never say that we are a political band because the main aim of the band is more to take people on a journey, so it’s still about social escapism and a kind of existential escapism with our songs. We’re all philosophy junkies!”

James suggests that the band have enough material written now they could bring out three albums if they wanted to, but the plan is to build up to a full album release in the future. Don’t expect the guys to give away too much either.

“We live in an information age and everything is so accessible with things like social media,” he says.

“I think the romanticism and mystery and charm of a lot of creative fields is changing as a result. Maybe that’s dying out but we love not giving everything away.”

The guitarist does, however, believe he’s improved as a player over the past couple of years. It’s not about being brilliant technically though, but being able to create new ideas, which James feels the band’s new material has.

“When I started playing I never wanted to be the guy that was just very good technically, because there were loads of heavy metal guys doing that in high school,” he adds.

“Being all about technique is very good for five minutes but then it’s like ‘what else’? Most of my favourite guitarists are sloppy but have feeling, they’ve got originality and ideas.

“James Williamson from the Stooges was an excellent guitar player and Raw Power is one of my favourite albums, but he wasn’t the best technically. It’s all about subtlety and note choice and sound, and that’s where I’m trying to develop.”

They certainly share some of the in the your face aggression of the Stooges too.

“We all prepare for gigs like we’re going into a fight,” laughs James.

“We’ll be pacing back and forth backstage. Your head starts to change and when I step onstage it’s like I’ve left myself and someone else has taken over. You have to be fearless so I’ll more excited than nervous at the weekend, like I’m ready for a scrap. We’ll grab you by the heart but rip through the ribcage to get there!”

Tijuana Bibles, King Tut’s, Friday and Saturday, £10, 8.30pm

JONATHAN GEDDES