It Is the best part of seven years since The Supernaturals were the most ubiquitous band on the Scottish gig circuit, taking the transit-van route to success, and their insidious pop tunes to towns not part of any conventional touring circuit.

It worked, and at around the same time as their contemporaries on the same small gig circuit, Travis, moved to London, The Supernaturals were signed to the EMI subsidiary, Food Records, then enjoying massive success as a consequence of Blur's mastery of the Brit-pop genre. Two albums and the occasional hit followed, making them the only citizens of Milngavie to clock up five appearances in the lower reaches of the top 40. So, it must have come as a surprise to many when the gig guides started featuring The Supernaturals again this year, in places like Forres, Thurso, Scalloway, and Lerwick when some of their last shows had been in arenas supporting Robbie Williams. In the past few

weeks, they have even made it to Colchester, Northampton, and

Wrexham, before they return to play The Garage in Glasgow tonight. To many, The Supernaturals had simply disappeared off the motorways of the UK,

victims of record company politics and impatience, never to be heard of again.

Piecing together the sequence of events, it looks like survival was a close call after a new managing director at Parlophone, Keith Wozencroft, decided he couldn't see where the band was going. Crisis meetings followed, and original member, Mark Guthrie, departed the band with the official reason given that he was tired of being poor.

The other band members continued with singer James McColl taking over Guthrie's bass duties. Some four months after their departure from EMI, the single Smile was adopted by the internet bank of the same name for a TV commercial campaign, and the proceeds of that, along with the strategic sale of equipment and a tax rebate allowed The Supernaturals to embark on a third album, and a different course.

''The final Robbie Williams tour just about finished us as a band,'' is James McColl's recollection. ''Playing to empty arenas for 25 minutes every second day was not why any of us got involved in music. It didn't do

us any good being on tour with one of the best performers of recent years.''

The third album, which will be released next year, was not without further gestation problems. It was completed in March, and the band found a new home with Koch International (a huge independent label, better known for its folk output). With one new member, Paul Malcolm (keyboards) already on board, another had

to be found, when another original member, Ken McAlpine,

departed the scene suddenly in July. He was replaced by David Mitchell who played his first

gig with the band a fortnight later. It was thought that, unlike Guthrie's departure, this was less than amicable.

''His reasons for leaving were various. He felt that to go out and tour after two years away would have been very difficult. The band is likely to be smaller than they were since their last outing in March 1999 and Ken obviously felt uncomfortable with this,''

says McColl.

It would appear that the changes have had little impact on their touring, and the first single, Finishing Credits, out on October 1, has already been picking up plays on Radio 2. So, The Supernaturals sound like they are ageing rather than dying.