"I am f****** completely in love with The Strokes," says The Maccabees' 21-year-old guitarist Felix White.

"They are so good. When we walked into The Brighton Centre it was completely empty, and they were there sound-checking on their own in this huge empty venue. It was the most amazing thing. And then walking backstage and f****** bumping into Nick Valensi and all you want to say is, my god, your cheekbones are f****** beautiful!'

Do you know what I mean? We were in awe the whole evening."

The Maccabees, like their heroes Julian Casablancas and co, are blessed with names made for neon lights: Orlando Weeks on vocals, Felix and his brother Hugo White on guitars, Robert Dylan Thomas on drums and Rupert Jarvis on bass.

They shared the stage with New York's coolest contemporary export back in February when they bagged the highly sought-after support slot.

"We told them we'd love it if they (The Strokes) came and watched us," says Felix, "and they all came by the side of the stage and watched our show which was proper something, considering two years ago we were paying all the money we had to go and see them."

It was a gig which signalled their burgeoning status as Brighton's latest ones to watch.

Now, just five weeks later the Maccabees, who are originally from Clapham and descended on Brighton when Orlando came down to study art, have signed with Polydor's Fiction Records, the home of Ian Brown, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Snow Patrol. "We're in good company," says Felix, "It's wonderful, a dream."

While an album has yet to be recorded (Felix estimates they will have one ready by January next year), The Maccabees are set to release a single this week - and since Steve Lamacq is already a champion, the radio is bound to be full of it this spring.

And so it should be. Latchmere is their "sharp salute" to ordinary life, an instantly likeable, punky pop song about the wave machine at the local swimming pool.

Typical of their set, lyrics like "Came out of the changing rooms and absolutely sod all had changed/so I stayed in your lane" and "no bombing/no heavy petting verruca socks and not forgetting/to stay in your lanes") are quirky and poetic, carried along on adrenalin riffs, and thundering drums. Guitars and vocals chime together with military precision.

"We all love The Clash," says Felix. "That gave us our benchmark for what a live show should be like - involved and exciting."

Starts 8pm. Tickets cost £7. Call 01273 325440