Roughly two minutes into their set, one of So Cow’s guitar players cocks his head toward the audience and asks if the sound’s okay. There’s a quiet, hesitant murmur of a reaction, and lead singer Brian Kelley jokingly says, “A little early to break the fourth wall, eh?”

The moment is typical of the live So Cow experience, all frenzied guitars and twee vocalizing — that is, until you hit a moment where the bottom drops out from under the agitated facade and humor lets itself in. Currently touring in support of both their self-titled 2009 album and the just-released Meaningless Friendly — both released stateside via Chicago-based record company Tic Tac Totally — So Cow exist in a humane netherworld between pop and punk. They don’t wear their heart on their sleeves, exactly, but they’re more willing to subvert their anger with slyness than the concise, Jay Reatard-ish construction of their songs would indicate.

There’s clearly enough passion in their play for them to have built a selective core audience, even on these tundras of Upstate New York — certain members of the Bug Jar crowd knew these songs by rote, which is more than can be said about most Dublin-based twee-punk acts. Kelley’s interactions with the audience proved to be the focal point of the show; at one point, he went through the crowd and had each person standing shout his name. Elsewhere he allowed another audience member to hold onto his eyeglasses before launching into another string of Beat Happening-inflected pop; “I’m bound to step on these things,” he added. Welcome to the fold, apparently.

Musical highlights of the set included opener “So Cow vs. The Future” as well as personal favorite “Moon Guen Young,” presumably a by-product of Kelley’s four-year tenure in Korea and one whose stop-start rhythms translate particularly well to the concert setting.

So Cow play another 50-odd shows in the next two months nationwide, including a number of showcases at the annual clusterf*%! otherwise known as South by Southwest. Meaningless Friendly is out via Tic Tac Totally.

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So Cow / “To-Do List”

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So Cow / “Casablanca”