Seven in pursuit of a funkier vibe

Glasgow septet Belle and Sebastian is often described as a “chamber pop” group with a tendency to be “precious,” and its multifaceted songs can read like erudite, elliptical poetry. But the group’s concert Saturday at the Wiltern LG revealed a playful streak in the music, which, if a label is required, might more accurately be called expansive indie-rock.

On this first of a scheduled two-night stand, leader Stuart Murdoch was as chatty and expressive as ever, commenting on the theater’s renovation since Belle and Sebastian’s 2001 Wiltern appearance. He asked whether fans were going to the after-party, gleefully danced with himself and occasionally stepped back to let guitarist Stevie Jackson sing such numbers as the wistful, bittersweet “To Be Myself Completely.”

The band, however, proved more musically extroverted during this set. While offering a generous dose of earlier material, members traded the languid passion of that 2001 show for the more insistent, even funkier, vibe of their new album, “The Life Pursuit,” which expands on the soul-pop feeling in B&S;’ mix of vintage R&B;, Velvet Underground folksiness and Smiths-style post-punk romanticism.

Often sounding like a Motown act from another dimension as they plumbed the odd corners of romance and rebellion, the players and up to two additional musicians harmonized sweetly while deftly wielding guitars, bass, keyboards, drums, cello, violin, horns and percussion.

The wry, thoughtful “Another Sunny Day” exemplified Belle and Sebastian’s airy way of taking something pleasant (the first blush of love) to its logical, less idealized conclusion (heartbreak and regret). Yet this and other deceptively breezy numbers proved less a sour reproach than a celebration of life’s gloriously messy imperfection.