"As soon as we get a bunch of songs we just want to get out there and enjoy ourselves," explains Rob Dylan Thomas. 'It's an hour or two a night so it's not a lot to ask, really."

Proclaiming themselves as 'naive but oh so confident", The Maccabees' first year of collective existence saw the five friends from London play more than 40 gigs, establishing themselves as relentlessly joyful live performers.

Moving to Brighton with the help of 'romantic intuition", the lads enjoyed a series of raucous shows across the city last year, continuing the adventure in 2006 with a support slot for The Strokes at the Brighton Centre.

'We're all huge fans of theirs and were excited enough about just getting to see them live,' admits Thomas.

'Then a week before the gig we got a call asking if we could support them, which was just amazing."

Having already opened for the likes of Arctic Monkeys and Goldie Lookin' Chain, their experience should stand them in good stead if the furore their upbeat brand of indie punk has been widely tipped for materialises.

'They were incredibly nice guys," says Thomas of their American heroes, 'They watched our set from the sidelines and gave us a shout-out while they were playing - it was a great moment."

Their next target is to release an album. 'We're going to get it recorded this summer," he predicts, unflustered by the rapturous reception afforded to new single Latchmere, a jangling recollection of a Battersea leisure centre.

'Personally, I always wanted us to get a record deal and release stuff. We just enjoy it and don't get too stressed."

Thomas's main concern is the threat of not touring, a situation temporarily forced upon the band when unfortunate guitarist Hugo White was struck down with a throat abscess.

"If we get time off, we start to get bored," he confesses. 'I had a telesales job once but I've been in bands since I was 13 and I can't think of anything I'd rather do.'

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