Named after a down-and-out American expatriate they met while hitchhiking through Mexico, Richmond Fontaine formed in 1994 out of a mutual love of Willie Nelson and Husker Du.

Nine years and six albums later, they're being hailed as the new heroes of Americana, a claim which April's Post To Wire, accompanied then by a jaw-dropping gig at this venue, did much to support.

As on previous releases, a syncopated drum beat is enough to jump-start Post On A Wire's road trip to nowhere, taking in a cast of losers, boozers and hapless lovers as songwriter Willy Vlautin narrates his hobo histories with a nicotine-stained, Springsteen drawl.

But, whereas 2002's Winnemucca was caught up in hushed acoustics, Richmond Fontaine's latest seems to shuffle along with increased urgency, at times lighting up its American gothic tales with the slap and tickle of pop.

"On a personal level, I've been trying to lighten up a little bit," Vlautin says. "As I get older, I get more tired and it's a lot harder to come back up from those dark places. I don't let myself write pop songs that often but it seemed right for this record."

That said, Vlautin hasn't yet turned his back on the familiar identity parade of doomed loners and volatile outcasts. "Dear Pete," begins the spoken word number Postcard From California, "sorry again about running out on the rent, pawning your TV and your folks' wedding rings..."

"He's been in a tonne of fights, stuck in the mountains, seen aliens and ghosts and been thrown into a Mexican jail," imagines Vlautin of this Walter Denny character, whose postcards to his friend (another Written With A Broken Hand, the last Postmarked Phoenix, Arizona) puncture the stately rock and optimistic power-folk to be found elsewhere.

"I get heat sometimes for writing such dark story songs and, hell, I wish I wouldn't either," Vlautin continues, "but a lot of the time, I can't help it.

"When I hear a song and the lyrics take me to a different world and the story moves me, then I feel like I've just been in that world. It kills me."

Coinciding with the European release this month of Winnemucca, this should be the tour that establishes Richmond Fontaine beyond the niche alt-country market. Vlautin, certainly, is hoping for a mixed crowd.

"I like country music but some of the people in it scare me," he says. "The same goes for punk-rock. But then there are the people who like both - those redneck punk-rock people are usually all right by me."

Starts 7.30pm, Tickets £9/£7.50 on the door, Tel: 01273 606312