They've been tipped as Britain's answer to The White Stripes and the noughties equivalent of Oasis, but this young trio from Lincoln have other ideas.

"We're influenced by an attitude," lead singer Martin Trimble explains. "People like Bob Dylan and Morrissey, they were aggressive and direct.

"Oasis were there on the crest of a wave of feeling with Britpop. What we do is very insular and I'm not prepared to embrace people the way Oasis did, aspiring to that 'Band of the People' mentality. It's never been a part of what we do, and never will be."

Instead, the NME darlings indulge in fast blues rock with edge. Ruggedly youthful in worn leather jackets and mussed-up hair, these fellas are simultaneously modern, old fashioned and hip. They combine menacing vocals, guttural guitar and thunderous drums with Muddy Waters-esque lyrics telling stories of irrational women.

"We grew up on the fag end of Britpop, but I think that a lot of those songs were quite banal," says Martin.

"That's why the blues is so important. It is a pure form of expression and not contaminated by anything. I know it is black music and I'm white, but it's your attitude and the spirit and the way you carry yourself that's important, not a chord progression."

Named after the Delta bluesman Skip James's 22-20 Blues, the 22-20s formed in August 2002 and spent their first few months gigging in pub back rooms.

It only took a few months for the hype to start, and by early 2003 their Dublin Castle gig was crammed with music industry types checking out what had been labeled the first British blues band capable of taking on the US sound.

Since then they have signed to Heavenly, had a Top 30 single with Shoot Your Gun, and have just released debut album, simply entitled 22-20, which was produced by Primal Scream collaborator Brendan Lynch.

"We spent a long time playing and rehearsing before we recorded the album," says Martin, "so that we could record the tracks as live and raw as possible."