Roysterers

There are fewer things more irritating to the music lover than those smug individuals who never tire of telling you how you should have been at some ludicrously small venue, at just the right time, to see some preposterously huge band.

Radiohead, REM or The Strokes upstairs at the Zodiac; White Stripes at The Point; Foals at the Cellar (either time); The Young Knives at The Wheatsheaf. Err. Manic Street Preachers at the Carfax Chippy.

Now it's your turn to be the smug one - and get in on an act, destined to be one of the bands of the year, almost from the start.

On Sunday, Royworld play the intimate surroundings of the Jericho Tavern.

To the uninitiated, Royworld are an eccentric indie-rock four-piece who are rapidly acquiring a reputation for their unconventional positivity and intense musicianship.

Drawing on influences such as Roxy Music, Kate Bush, Peter Gabriel, Talking Heads and even Tears For Fears, they hail from all over the place, but formed at the capital's Goldsmiths College in early 2006.

And no, none of them are called Roy. At the fore is frontman Rod Futrille.

"He is the 'driving force' says keys man Tim Miles.

But it is Rod's songwriting partnership with his brother Crispin, that is the creative force behind Royworld - though Crispin does not feature in the line-up.

They grew up in the middle of nowhere, at the end of a country lane in Somerset.

"It meant there wasn't much to do," says Rod. "But we both love music so that's where it all started."

"We're both quite highly strung," he adds. "That tends to get amplified when we're together. In some ways writing music is like therapy.

"We can both get really excited about a new song we're working on, sometimes to the exclusion of everything else in life.

"It's like living in a temporary dream world where nothing else matters and anything is possible."

It is their dedication which saw them getting snapped by Virgin for their first single Man In The Machine.

"Crispin is a bit more macro than me," says Rod. "He likes the bigger picture, the concepts and direction of our songs. He thinks too much!"

Their second breakthrough came at the end of last year, when indie label Fierce Panda released their tunes Elasticity and Tinman as a limited edition double A-side.

And it won some influential friends - not least because of its imaginative lyrics.

"We like to paint pictures with the words," says Rod.

Due out soon is Dust - a glorious piece of piano and electronic pop.

It is, Rod says, a good example of what Royworld are about: A reflective song that, instead of feeling bleak, is rich and accessible and encouraging.

"I'm radioing out. Calling anyone. Is there anyone around?" he sings.

"I think that feeling is in pretty much all of our songs - a feeling of detachment. Not overwhelming misery, but feeling a bit out of the loop. A bit cut off".

But it is live that the sheer intricacy of their songs shines through.

Find out for yourself at the Jericho, in Walton Street, Oxford. Tickets are £5 in advance, available from www.weggottickets.com. Doors open at 7.30pm.

INSIDE the mind of Royworld: Man In The Machine - "It's a song about how much we have to compromise ourselves in life," says Rod. "Am I a man or am I part of the machinery?

Have I lost all my sensitivity and sensibility in this corporate world?"

Brakes - "It's about telling yourself to slow down when you're on the verge of panic. That feeling of, 'if I can just get through today!' Sometimes things can escalate in your mind out of all proportion."

Science - "In songs we're so often in the world of human emotion. But science is clinical and binary. It doesn't have any emotion. Hence: 'Science won't lie, it won't laugh, it won't cry'. "It's what everyone knows but we just wanted to sum up that total coldness. It may be detached and dispassionate, but at least you know where you stand!"