IT IS a wet and miserable Wednesday afternoon in Glasgow, but a group gathering inside one of the city’s record stores are unconcerned with such mundane things. They are here to see a band they love perform an instore set, and in due course an unassuming foursome appear onstage, disperse a handful of stripped-back numbers, chat with a fan who previously saw them in Dundee and then sign various records, leaving a happy bunch to head back into the gloom outside.

Here are Wolf Alice, a very modern rock band. They are self-aware, politically active, down to earth, unafraid of different musical genres, and growing in confidence, even if fame is only a by-product of making music to them.

“It’s important to me that this record does well because all I want is to have creative freedom to do what I want, and if this does well then I can do more of that,” says their singer Ellie Rowsell, speaking a few days before that Glasgow appearance.

“So I can’t disregard that side at all. But I’m not going to be refreshing Google and my name to try and get more attention…"

If Rowsell were to start Googling away she would find mostly positive words. Debut album Our Love Is Cool announced the quartet’s arrival with a snarl and a flourish, and follow-up Visions of a Life, released in September, is a muscular effort filled with confidence.

It’s a rock album for the Spotify generation, not afraid to dip into different categories. So advance track Yuk Foo gallops through screams and angst in two minutes, Don’t Delete The Kisses provides a spoken word verse, quickfire pop arrives with Beautifully Unconventional, and the title track suggests the Smashing Pumpkins.

These were songs that first took shape while the band were on the road, before being hammered out in rehearsals and then recorded in Los Angeles.

“What I love doing the most is just writing songs, so it wasn’t like I was going 'right, it’s now time to write the next album’, it was just that I was carrying on writing as normal, and then eventually you bring the songs to everyone,” explains Rowsell.

“Songwriting is not anything calculated for us, it was more just lucky that we had time and it was natural.”

Buoyed by the fortunes of Our Love Is Cool, a hit both at home and Stateside, the band were able to hit the ground running for the follow up.

“We had a lot more confidence, especially with the songwriting, than on the first album,” recalls Rowsell.

“I think we were a bit braver with our decisions. I mean, we’ve not been too experimental, but on something like Visions of a Life (the song), it’s quite riffy and psychedelic, and very rock, in a way that we were too self-conscious to put out before.

“It’s about not being too concerned about what other people want from you. It’s about doing what appeals to you and it’ll work out for the best that way. You can’t really do something you’re not keen on to the best of your ability, so it’s about doing something you’re passionate about.”

Talk of heading to LA to work on a sophomore album is a rock n’ roll cliche, however Wolf Alice seem a group extremely unlikely to have their heads turned by the bright lights, even if Rowsell drily notes that “it was nicer than a November in Wood Green”.

It was London where the band first formed seven years ago, with Rowsell and guitarist Joff Oddie forming an acoustic act. They expanded to a four piece and welcomed bassist Theo Ellis and drummer Joel Amey, while the music shifted towards indie rock and grunge, albeit with acoustic touches still there.

Their arrival as a band came when the market for new guitar groups was at a low ebb, but along with the likes of Slaves and Blossoms, Wolf Alice are helping lead a new crop of acts who are having mainstream success.

They have also been spotted on the big screen, after Michael Winterbottom set his recent film On The Road around a real tour by the band, with the plot following a fictional romance between a roadie and the band’s PR.

Anyone who watches the film, shown at the Glasgow Film Festival earlier this year, will see touring presented in mundane fashion, a far cry from any hedonistic antics.

“They were looking for a band about our level for the backdrop to this film about two lovers, and what it would be like with touring, and particularly the unromantic and monotonous side of touring. Michael told us there was nothing we needed to change, he would just shoot us the way we were on tour.

“It came out much more like a documentary about Wolf Alice than we’d expected, and it does show what the touring life of a band is like at a certain level.”

That level could change, given the band’s consistent success, even if Wolf Alice themselves come across as a modest bunch. The music industry itself, however, does not impress Rowsell in the slightest.

“Music should support the everyday person and originality, and it’s just becoming a capitalist money-making machine. That element has always been there, but it seems like it’s taking over more and more, and the soul is being sucked out of it all. It’s devastating to see the amount of independent venues closing down.

“The same thing seems to be happening across the world, in so many different areas. If you can do one tiny thing to help that then you should, whether it’s doing a tour of independent venues if you have the money, or just buying something in a local corner shop.”

Earlier this year the band tried to do their part, touring the country to test out songs from Visions of a Life and deliberately playing smaller venues. Their upcoming tour this month sees the venues go up in size, and their Scottish dates bring them to the Barrowland next weekend, a venue that the frontwoman believes is part of a dying breed.

“It feels like anything that’s good and independent cannot survive anymore,” she explains. “I love somewhere like the Barrowland, it’s really, really cool. There’s a really old school vibe to it and I’d hate the idea of somewhere like that being taken over or being refurbished because it [the vibe] adds so much to it.”

Rowsell now seems much comfortable speaking out about various topics, whether it’s the problems with the music industry or politics on a bigger scale. The band regularly championed Jeremy Corbyn during the general election and have performed at several benefit concerts for refugees.

After a period of time when many bands seemed reluctant to approach politics, Wolf Alice appear content to dive right in.

“I think everyone can make a difference, whether you’re in a band or not,” says Rowsell. “As an artist and a musician you have a lot more attention on you, so it is much easier to get your voice heard, but with social media now you can get your opinions out there for everyone to hear. This day and age is a lot more black and white [politically] than before, and if you feel you know what’s right and wrong then you should speak out.”

This brings up another topic. Wolf Alice attract varied crowds at their gigs, but they evidently have plenty of teenage fans. How does Rowsell, a smart and thoughtful character, think about being a role model to the band’s younger followers?

“It’d be weird to think about it all the time, so I just try and do my best. I’m trying to be my better self onstage all the time.”

Wolf Alice play two nights at the Barrowland on November 11 and 12.