Howler

But such is Jordan Gatesmith’s luck that head honcho of the London label that brought the world The Strokes and The Smiths signed the group solely on the strength of one demo he’d received from pal andmusic journalist Jonathan Garrett.

“He [Garrett] came to a show. He didn’t talk to us. He bought one of our EPs and sent them to Geoff Travis the following day telling him to check out this Minneapolis band. The next week Geoff emailed saying, ‘I want to sign you’. We had no idea it had even been sent.”

What makes the tale really ready for rock history is that the band had been together less than a year and Gatesmith had spent the previous year writing the music in his parents’ Minneapolis basement and busking in the city’s streets.

“We were just looking at a bigger picture from the beginning,” he tells The Guide the day before the band head to New York for a five-night residency, then on to England for a run of shows riding the wake of an NME front cover and being named number one in its “100 New Bands You Need To Hear in 2012”.

“We didn’t bother with the local scene. I mean we support our scene, but we were always looking for the edge: how we were going to be more competitive, being as tight as possible, choosing the best musicians.

“Still, it all came down to luck: a writer for Pitchfork and NME being at our show.”

He admits they could have remained in obscurity. But others might say the good always outs – especially all those who have hailed the group as the next Strokes (another Geoff Travis signing, almost ten years to the day) thanks to their pretty indie boy looks, upbeat indie-rock and youthful zest.

“I’ve always called Minneapolis the place where dreams go to die, mainly because we had a great scene in the 1980s, with really influential stuff such as Prince, but in the last 20 years nothing has come out.

“We’ve had Tapes ’n Tapes and since then nothing. Things might be changing, though. A band called Night Moves has just been signed to Domino. Are people more interested in Minneapolis because we’ve been signed? I don’t know.”

We speak on the day the band’s debut album, America Give Up, is released in the UK: January 16. Surely it must be the happiest day of his life?

“Well, yeah, it’s nice. I don’t know how it’s going to sell. I’m happy to have it released. We put a lot into in. I would love to some day be able to sell a hundred thousand records – I would love that.

"Then I’d feel I’d peaked.”

The album title is a sarcastic attack on people trying too hard as well as a mission statement.

“We wanted it to be a debut release where we’re not holding back. We wanted to make a statement and have 30 minutes of in-your-face rock and roll and have it.”

Howler is at Green Door Store, in Trafalgar Street Arches, on Jan 24, 7.30pm, £8, call Rounder Records on 01273 325440 or Resident on 01273 606312.