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As they belt out the summer smash, She's So Lovely, the second single from their newly released, self-titled first album, Scouting for Girls look surprisingly polished for chart newcomers.听

But then this is no ordinary ensemble.

Fronting this naggingly catchy, alternative pop tune with its poignant, universal message about young, starry-eyed love is a raucous, upbeat frontman who maintains a close rapport with the audience.

Roy Stride - band leader, singer, songwriter, keyboard player and occasional acoustic guitarist - plays with wide-eyed enthusiasm, punches the air like a drill sergeant and wills the crowd to sing and dance along with him.听

It's as if the band have been around for decades and are playing their greatest hits.

devoted fan base

King's College student union may not be a massive venue, but to have this sort of adulation this early on, speaks volumes.

But are the band, who signed to a major label a mere 18 months after forming, perhaps preaching to the converted?

After all Stride, bassist Greg Churchouse and drummer Peter Ellard, built up their devoted fan base months before getting their record deal, through self-publicity on internet music sites, gigs at small London venues, constant airplay and online editorial as one of this website's London Calling bands.

But tonight the Harrow-born childhood friends prove their appeal with a set of hummable, radio-friendly anthems full of jittery melodies, perky piano chords that are skittish one minute, generous and powerful the next, marching drums and strummy guitars, all topped off with Stride's husky vocals.

infectious

Highlights include several ditties about young manhood and losing in love - not for nothing is their name derived from a pun on a Boy Scout handbook.

Upbeat frontman Roy Stride

The infectious first single It's Not About You combines Stride's wistful tones with Churchouse's prettily melodic backing vocals, while the melancholic Keep on Walking has carefully placed drumbeats that round the song off perfectly.

"It's all gone off like a rocket," says Stride. "We just started off and we were playing to maybe 40 or 50 people a night and now it's audiences of about 2,000 people.

"I just love to write songs and perform and the whole thing's just been like a bit of a holiday, to be honest. If a band ever says it's hard work, that's rubbish."

How apt. If he and Scouting for Girls continue effortlessly to create such breezy pop rock tunes and perform with fire in their collective belly, they're sure to become chart mainstays.听

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