Hometown: London.
The lineup: Gabriel Stebbing (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Michael Lovett (backing vocals, bass), James Hoare (backing vocals, guitar), Robin Christian (drums).
The background: The history of lesser band members (i.e. not the frontman) breaking away from the parent outfit to form a halfway decent new group is long and illustrious. Well, maybe not long, but there are a few. And illustrious might be a stretch ... Hmm. How about Fat Les? Maybe not. Still on a Blur tip: Gorillaz were all right. Then there's Bad Lieutenant, the outfit formed by Alex James and Bernard Sumner of New Order. Hold on, this is ridiculous: we can only think of bands formed by ex-members of Blur. While you try and come up with some better suggestions, please allow us to introduce you to Your Twenties, possibly – it suddenly transpires – the best group ever formed by a member of another act where he wasn't the main geezer. To coin a phrase.
If the name Gabriel Stebbing rings a bell, that's because he was the bassist and keyboard player with Devon's finest electronic popsters Metronomy. Not that he and Metronomy's head honcho, Joe Mount, fell out – in fact, the latter has been producing tracks that will comprise Your Twenties' debut album next year. Before that there is the single Billionaires, to be released on the Neon Gold label (Passion Pit, Marina and the Diamond), which was produced by Blur (them again) and Smiths whizz Stephen Street, who has piled on the gently strummed chords, the oohs and aahs and handclaps, and made it feel like a catchy blast of late-summer guitar pop.
There was a previous single, Caught Wheel, which caused a bit of a stir when it came out last November. It caused a bit of a stir because it managed to pull together the sounds and styles of Your Twenties' two favourite acts, Fleetwood Mac and Elastica. On paper, it seemed a little odd, because even though those were/are both boy-girl combos, there the similarities end. But somehow Caught Wheel – featuring the gently insistent motorik-MOR pulse of the Mac during the verse and a staccato guitar riff during the chorus that was pure Elastica – did indeed sound like that strangest of hybrids, west coast Britpop. There were also synthy bloops and bleeps in there that made you think of early-70s proto-electro novelty, Popcorn by Hot Butter, as well as lush CSN&Y harmonies, and a frenzied guitar solo redolent of Ernie Isley circa Summer Breeze. It could have been a mess, but it was actually quite marvellous. "Our ideal evenings are often spent at home listening to 45s from three decades ago and making wonky pop music," explains Stebbing. Meanwhile, the band are looking forward to completing their debut album, which they hope will sell enough copies to enable them to "move to America, marry librarians and pursue our love of yachting". Well, good luck with that, chaps. And good luck with your decision to pursue either synthy MOR or jangly indie pop.
The buzz: "A curious mix of upbeat, keys-driven alt pop and west coast-styled rock fusion."
The truth: Street might have the marquee name, but if it's an electronic MOR sound you're after, stick with Mount, boys.
Most likely to: Form a spin-off troupe called Fleetwood Macstica.
Least likely to: Become billionaires.
What to buy: Billionaires is released by Neon Gold on 7 September.
File next to: Magistrates, Empire of the Sun, Fleetwood Mac, Elastica.
Links: myspace.com/yourtwenties
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