Burnley & Pendle Citizen - the local newspaper for our community

Band ape Arctic Monkeys for success

From the The Bolton News, first published Tuesday 22nd May 2007.

MANCHESTER unsigned band the Coolabahs are hoping to follow in the footsteps of the Arctic Monkeys by using the internet to promote their debut single.

The band released Another Reason yesterday, and are hoping that their huge online following will help them make a dent on the top 40.

Coolabahs guitarist Matthew Gibbins, from Baguley, says he is hopeful the band, whose harmony driven style has been likened to Manchester legends the Stone Roses, can ape the success of the Arctic Monkeys' single I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor.

That song was the first to hit the top spot in the charts on downloads alone, back in October 2005.

Matthew said: "Bands like the Arctic Monkeys are definitely an inspiration for us.

"They completely changed the whole business and have shown that unsigned bands can make a big impression if they have a good enough following.

"It's been amazing to see our fan base grow to thousands just from people coming to watch our gigs and spreading the word.

"Musically we're quite different from the Artic Monkeys but if we can have half the impact they've had we'll be delighted."

The unsigned quartet, made up of Matthew, Jim Bell, Ranj Gill and Jamie Crosby, were previously known as the Buzzin Flies and have already amassed almost 20,000 fans on sites like MySpace and BEBO.

They recently enlisted the help of legendary Ocean Colour Scene and Specials producer John Rivers to record their first album, which they plan to release in August.

And Matthew is hoping success in the singles charts could take them a step closer to the holy grail of securing a major record deal.

He said: "We have made the album off our own backs and after taking a bit of advice decided to release the first single as a download only.

"Everywhere we've played we've had a great reception and we were delighted with how the album has turned out. Everything is set up for us to really make a go of it now.

"If we can make an impact with this single then the record companies will hopefully stand up and take notice."

Another Reason is available to download from all major download sites, including iTunes and HMV.

The band play the Jabez Clegg, in Manchester, on June 21.

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