It's Friday noon-time, and the bleary-eyed couple at the heart of Glasgow's Sons And Daughters look like they haven't had a good night's sleep in weeks. "It's been a pretty busy time what with all the shows and promoting the new album," guitarist Scott Paterson says.

"We never look our best first thing in the morning," jokes Adele Bethel, his girlfriend, band leader and former member of indie also-rans Arab Strap. "We're nocturnal creatures."

So much so, in fact, that the publicist handling the pair's Dublin press day had some difficulty waking them up that morning. Ah, the glamour of rock 'n' roll.

The duo -- one half of the nervy pop-punk misfits whose number also include David Gow and Ailidh Lennon -- are in town to talk about their fine second album, This Gift, which appears on Friday.

"It's a more pop-oriented album than the last one," Paterson says. "Not nearly as dark as The Repulsion Box. When we started writing songs for this album we found that a year's solid touring meant The Repulsion Box's moods were seeping into the new material and we didn't like that. It just felt like more of the same."

The new album sounds significantly more commercial than anything the band has done to date. "We wanted to make a pop record to excite ourselves," Paterson adds. "Being on Domino [home to the likes of Franz Ferdinand and Arctic Monkeys], there's no pressure to be commercial."

"We were listening to lots of Blondie, Motown, garage rock and The Smiths," Bethel says. "The Smiths are a great template about what intelligent pop music can be. Something like This Charming Man can be listened to on so many different levels -- it's brilliant musically." Paterson adds: "It's also incredible lyrically."

Like most long-term couples, they can finish each other's sentences.

Bernard Butler, the ex-Suede guitarist, produced the album. "We were very excited to get to work with him," Paterson says. "That first Suede album was pretty life-changing for me. Bernard is a genius guitar player, up there with Johnny Marr."

So, was Butler the producer different to Butler the guitarist? "He's very old-school," Bethel says. "But he thinks" -- she breaks off and looks knowingly at her bandmate -- "he thinks that his opinion is the only opinion."

Paterson interjects: "He was incredibly hard to work with in the studio. It was mainly friction between myself and him because we are both guitarists. He loves producers like Martin Hannett because he was famously uncompromising. He likes to take bands out of their comfort zone and create tension."

Bethel adds: "On the first day, we thought it wouldn't work. We played about 30 songs for him and he could be extremely critical of what we thought were the best part of songs." Paterson: "For me, it was like 'f*** you'."

Would the pair collaborate with him again? "When we finished the record in July, I would have said 'No f***ing way'," Paterson says. "But I would definitely like to work with him again. Now that we know each other, a second bite of the cherry might be even more fruitful."

"I don't know if he would work with us again," Bethel says.

Unhappy studio experience or not, the results speak for themselves. This Gift is the best Sons And Daughters album to date, and one that is bound to move them closer to more mainstream acceptance.

Scott Paterson says the band's progress is all down to the fact that they've signed to an artist-friendly label.

"I sound like such a company man, but I really mean it. When I speak to other bands on other labels, they clearly don't have the sort of artistic freedom that Domino bands have. Everyone is treated the same -- from the Arctic Monkeys to the smallest acts. If we had been on any other label, we would have been dropped after The Repulsion Box because it didn't sell much."

Like virtually all albums released today, This Gift has already leaked online. "It's annoying because you know a journalist has done it," Paterson says. "They're supposed to be supporting music and loving music."

"I'm in mixed minds about it," Bethel says. "I used to copy albums when I was younger and I know a lot of kids don't have a huge amount of money so I can see why they're downloading stuff for nothing. That's okay to an extent, but it does appear to be getting out of hand. This generation of young people maybe sees music as something they are entitled to have and not have to pay for."

"You do meet kids at shows who have never bought a CD," Paterson says, with a note of incredulousness in his voice. "I think MP3s are great for portability, but they do devalue music. That's why vinyl is making such a comeback. It's tangible and needs to be cared for. It involves far more effort than pushing a button on an iPod." n

This Gift is released on Friday. Sons And Daughters play Dublin's Whelan's on Sunday, February 17

- John Meagher