WITH almost 40 years behind them you’d think that the Stranglers would now like to start taking things easy, but the band are having none of it as they continue to tour and present us with a few surprises.

Their hectic schedule isn’t confined to long tours as they undertake many one-off dates throughout the year, and one such show is at the 53 Degrees in Preston on August 27.

In recent years, after a number of tours where they played mainly a greatest hits set, the band have been mixing the set list up; and this date will continue in the same vein.

Baz Warne, guitarist and singer with the band for the past 11 years said: “One of the aims of the last tour — the Black And Blue tour — was to stretch the band a bit.”

“The tour was fantastic and one of the best we’ve ever done — almost every date was sold out.”

“We like to mix it up as much for ourselves as for the fans, and there are some songs that we have to play, as you have to cater for everyone.”

“Because we didn’t have anything to promote, we decided to play some songs that hadn’t been done before and we had quite a task putting a set-list together.”

“But then,” he adds. “Who wouldn’t with the catalogue of songs we have?”

He won’t be drawn on which songs they will play, but he says enigmatically: ”There may be two or three new songs, and (he laughs) some that may not even have been written yet.”

“I can’t really say what we’ll be playing in Preston though as we are still working out the set. If I knew I’d tell you, but I don’t…. yet.”

Formed in 1974, The Stranglers have had 24 top 40 singles including the likes of Peaches, Golden Brown and No More Heroes, and their most recent albums Norfolk Coast and Suite XIV have been widely lauded as among the best they have ever made.

Three of the band have been together since 1975; bassist and vocalist JJ Burnel, Dave Greenfield with his swirling keyboards and drummer Jet Black (it will be his 73rd birthday, the day before the Preston show), with Baz joining in 2000.

“There’s been some tumultuous changes in my life since I joined, but it’s been a great 11 years,” he said.

“I’ve made some fabulous friends and we really are like a family.

"Me and JJ are ensconced in Bath writing for the next album which is due out next year; it’s all sounding alarmingly fresh and alive.”

“Everybody’s pleased with what we’ve got so far and now we’re sifting through the songs and getting down to the nitty gritty.”

The Sunderland fan explains how they work.

“JJ and I tend to collect material. Sometimes we’ll use a Dictaphone or a mobile. Some will never be Stranglers material, but some will.”

“Then we’ll get together and play each other the songs and deconstruct it.”

“As these songs are our legacy we can’t have anything that is substandard and we work very hard to keep the standard up.”

“This will be our 17th studio album and it will be all killer, no filler.

“It’ll be a big sounding record and we can’t wait to start recording it.”

Last year, the band made their debut appearance at Glastonbury and the compilation Decades Apart featured tracks from all five decades of their career.

Their tours sell out very quickly as they have an incredible fan-base.

Baz acknowledges the fans’ influence. “They make us what we are.”

And why not? Their gigs thunder along with a raw energy born from the pub-rock movement from where they sprang in the mid-’70s.

So we can expect memorable classic songs delivered with that trade-mark sound that hits you hard.

“We always enjoy the one-off dates,” Baz confides.

“And we enjoy coming to Preston — the last time we were there, we had a burlesque troupe with us.

"That made for some sights in the dressing room, I can tell you,” he laughs.

“Actually, we’re playing festivals the day before (in Aberdeen) and the day after (Cumbria’s Solfest).

"We thought of where we could play in between as we would much rather have a gig than a night off between gigs.”

* The Stranglers play 53 Degrees, Preston on Saturday, August 27. Tickets 0871 220 0260.