SILENT ALLIANCE

Having already taken a shine to the bright and quirky sound of London popsters Silent Alliance, it feels happily appropriate to find the band soaking up the sun in an Old Street beer garden on a warm mid-April evening. With drink flowing freely and several hours to kill before they hit the stage, the primary discussion point is tonight's setlist, before conversation quickly morphs into an in-depth analysis of Depeche Mode's Music For The Masses album. The now firmly established line-up - singer Philip Ybring, guitarist Tom Kirkham, bassist Alexandra Brettel and drummer Giles Taylor - are in high spirits, and with some justification. They've just finished recording what they believe is their catchiest song to date, they're getting noticed by big label A&Rs, and the gigs just keep on rolling in. They're also a little bit tipsy.

"It's nice out here in the sunshine," says Taylor. "We're feeling pretty relaxed at the moment, especially now the line-up changes are over and we've got through that stage where everything you try and do musically falls wide of the mark."

"It's clichéd, but there's a huge sense of belief within the band these days," adds Ybring. "We've always tried to put on a really energetic and inspired show, and it feels as though we're making great progress - which is good because, you know, more people deserve to see us!"

That's not to say everything has been peachy for Silent Alliance, having recently been forced to change their name following a bizarre twist of fate. After spending 2006 establishing their reputation as a first-rate live act, only to have a curly-haired Freddie Mercury impersonator with almost the same name as them appear and hit the number one spot with his debut single, the band are understandably a little bitter.

"We ignored it for a while - sort of hoping it would go away," explains Ybring. "Then promoters we already knew started getting Mica and Mika confused, and it became a bit ridiculous. I guess the worst thing about it is he's just so bad..."

Was it a case of starting again from scratch?

"No, because people loved the sound, and in the last few months we've done a hell of a lot of promoting to get the new name out there," says Ybring. "But your name becomes part of your band identity - it felt like we've had to reinvent ourselves to some extent."

So what does the name Silent Alliance mean anyway?

"No lawsuit," notes Taylor wryly.

"I think it sort of means shut up and listen," suggests Kirkham. "Indie music has become so fashionable now that it feels like people spend more time talking about it than bothering to check whether it's actually listenable. If you've got your own style and you're name-checking Bowie then you're 99% of the way there - it doesn't matter whether you're any good or not."

"It's quite difficult to make yourself heard in a musical world where only the 'loudest' promotional gimmick gets the most attention... maybe that's why Mika has done so well," adds Brettel. "We want to get people moving beyond that and listening to new music properly again."

Tonight's gig is at hip Shoreditch joint 333 Mother Bar, which makes up in intimacy what it lacks in terms of a conventional stage or lighting rig. It's a peculiar place to catch Silent Alliance in action, but there's a fine turnout, and the band are clearly enjoying themselves as they power through a brief twenty-five minute set to keen applause.

Ybring is particularly euphoric, bellowing out song introductions like a military general, squeezing 'ohhs' and 'ahhs' into each and every line and frequently veering out onto the dancefloor with his guitar in-between verses. The band are tight, policed throughout by Taylor's steady beats - I later find out this is the first time they've integrated pre-recorded sounds into the act, and more than a few nerves were on show in soundcheck, however these are nowhere to be seen in the performance itself. Polar opposites exist either side of Ybring, with Brettel's quietly composed to-ing and fro-ing offset by Kirkham's frenzied convulsions and repeated attempts to assault his own instrument. It's a strong group performance that commands attention and leaves its audience more than a little out of breath by the time the band leave the stage.

Soundwise, Silent Alliance seem to be bridging the gap between New Order and The Smiths, combining resonant guitar hooks and jangles with disco beats and atmospheric string sections. Opener From Russia With Love sounds like a close cousin of classic New Order single Regret, while Explanations resembles a minor-key take on The Smiths' The Boy With The Thorn In His Side. Does the band therefore fit into the great Manchester musical tradition?

"Not really - we're Swedish," claims Taylor, though he admits to being a big Smiths fan. It turns out only Ybring is Swedish, and though there is a Mancunian in the group (Kirkham), he's reluctant to place the band within this context. "I don't think you can say that about us really - Philip's Swedish, Alex is German and Giles's birthplace is a mystery, so we've all abandoned our homes."

"We owe a lot to Scandinavian music," says Ybring. "The band really got started when I heard Mew a few years ago and realised that it was actually still possible to make really interesting guitar-based music. I was very cynical about that at the time. I'm very picky about the songs and artists I get into, and a lot of the stuff people around me were enjoying, I didn't think so much of. Hearing Mew was kind of a turning point. A lot has happened to the band since then, artistically speaking, but we've continued to be influenced by the Scandinavian stuff."

Even so, Ybring, the band's main songwriter, claims Bruce Springsteen and obscure Texan outfit Voxtrot as his current favourite artists. Indeed, the band's range of influences seems to spread far and wide, spanning The Beatles, Kate Bush, Prince and Psychedelic Furs, to name but a few. There's an absence of more modern artists from the list.

"Sure, some recent bands have been pretty inventive," says Kirkham. "But you can't help feeling that many bands that have been hyped haven't really had the songwriting skills to back it up."

Ybring adds, "That being said, I think some bands out there now are finally starting to change the landscape in a more interesting way."

So where does Silent Alliance fit into this picture?

"I think the time is right for intelligent, artistically relevant pop music to re-emerge," says Ybring. "Some promoters have found us a bit difficult because we're not playing the same sort of stuff as the other bands, but I think that's a good thing. If we sound different it's because we want to be part of creating something new."

The band certainly don't resemble their contemporaries on the London club circuit, and their brand of exuberant pop could well be the ideal accompaniment for the months ahead. And how does that stand with them?

According to Brettel, "I don't think we mind fitting in with the 'soundtrack to the summer' thing too much, as long as people realise that it doesn't tell the whole story. Anyway, we've got a couple of songs lying around that sound like The Cure, just waiting for a rainy day."

"We could make a concept album," suggests Taylor. "A sort of pop take on the four seasons."

"This," notes Ybring, "...is why drummers should never be given creative control. In 20 years' time they'll be defacing our album sleeves - just like Phil Collins."

Taylor sighs contemplatively.

"You've got to live the dream."

Allie Raymond is a freelance journalist and contributor to Comes With A Smile.