Whenever Slipknot make a comeback they get a major mask makeover, extending their head spikes by three feet and trying to out-evil the evilest Wasco Clown. Not so, cuddly house revivalists The 2 Bears. Perhaps realising that the manky bear costumes they wore throughout the campaign for their inspired debut album Be Strong, in 2012, wouldn’t even survive a hefty blast of Fabreze, they’ve ditched the outfits altogether and instead shrouded themselves in camp Halloween flamboyance. Their warm-up act is a military mistress wrapping the crowd in neon wool for a lesson in “rave knitting”, and their show gradually becomes a vast parade of sexy zombies, S&M ghouls, Twiglet-physiqued he-shes and gasmask-clad Dr Deaths. It’s like Rocky Horror night at The Box.

All of which makes their shameless throwback to early-90s house music an utterly infectious experience. While his Hot Chip bandmate Alexis Taylor is off exploring the emotive world of alt-folk, Joe Goddard drenches himself in post-rave cheese. Singer Raf Rundell – the chunky brickie everyman of disco divas, as glamorous as a saveloy – switches from Ian Dury monotone to cracked soul croon as My Queen throbs along on rusted rimshot beats and synthetic marimba. Beyond Bear Hug, their rib-crushing pastiche of A Guy Called Gerald’s Voodoo Ray, there’s little novelty slant to their music; the glistening pop choruses of Angel (Touch Me), Get Out and Be Strong are heartfelt tribute to the Tongian era, the latter even listing their electro heroes from Todd Terry to the KLF.

Not that the Bears are happy just to squat in history’s woods. The meatier corners of new album The Night Is Young add real depth and gristle, its title track a stirring Afrobeat romance, and Run Run Run a sacrificial chant that sees Joe don a devil dog mask to dance with an undead catwoman. And as they’re mobbed by writhing graveyard deviants for final unity anthem Church, their place in 2014 is assured.