TIM HUGHES is sold on the vintage sight and sound of The Long Insiders.

SHARPLY dressed and effortlessly cool, but with a dark edge, The Long Insiders come across as characters from a half-remembered 1950s film.

They look, and sound, like they’ve strutted out of a faded lounge bar in the wilds of the American West. But, y’know, appearances can be deceptive.

For beneath the twanging Duane Eddy guitars, sparse spaghetti western soundscapes, film noir style, and surf-rock reverb is a band, less familiar with Route 66 than, well, Cowley Road.

Brothers Nick and Simon Kenny, previously known for previous incarnations Thurman and Four Storeys, have long been legends of this parish, and together with drummer Dan Goddard (ex of The Nubiles) and sultry singer Sarah Dodd compose one of the most visually and aurally-stimulating bands this side of the early 1960s.

“We want people to listen to music from the hip, not the head,” says Sarah.

“And get into our music – whatever else they like. It’s pre-60s-sounding sub-rockabilly music that you can really dance to.”

Sarah, a jazz fan and native Welsh girl, moved to Oxford after hooking up with the Kennys, and now cuts a dash through the city’s music scene.

“My boys look after me,” she laughs. “Nick and I do have a fractious on-stage relationship though. He’ll kick out a verse and I’ll answer it – and there is a certain frisson.”

On Saturday the band launch their single Midnight Man in the intimate surroundings of Oxford’s Jericho Tavern.

Of course, it’s impossible to separate the sound of the band from their look – which is all vintage suits and ties, and, for Sarah, retro skirts, blouses and treacherous-looking heels. Sarah admits the lounge lizard imagery is all part of what it means to be a Long Insider “It sums up what we are about,” she explains. “It catches the energy and the era – and also the sense of fun. We’ve got a darkness and dirtiness that I really like.

“I spend a lot of my time trawling through vintage stuff. If I had a dress-down Friday at work I wouldn’t know what to do. My look is definitely about tailored elegance and buttoned-up passion. It is all before 1958 – though is dirtied up a bit.

“I do wish I’d been around back then; people have always told me I was born too late.”

“We create a vibe – which is why the single launch is going to be so great. Hopefully a few of the punters will get suited and booted as well.”

The single is initially released, appropriately enough, on vinyl only. “It captures the sound of what we do and where it was recorded – which was an old Victorian coach house,” she says.

“You get the hiss and the hot reverb that our music is all about.”

After three and a-half-years of injecting style into an otherwise largely sartorially-retarded Oxford music scene, the band have beefed up their sound from the sparse, mysterious spy-rock imagery we had grown used to.

“We’ve changed a lot as a band,” admits Sarah. “We’ve got dirtier, louder and faster and are playing serious rock ’n’ roll. But there’s still something filmic about the music – it’s all about surf and film noir and that imagery feeds into our lyrics.”

Like all bands, the music reflects their influences. But unlike most, The Long Insiders base theirs on the sound of a long-lost era. “My record collection bats between the ’60s and ’20s, and includes a lot of swing,” she says.

And, she explains, the music provides an escape for the band and the crowd.

“It may not be what people are expecting to hear but after a few songs they’ll love it and keep coming back.

“It’s brilliant to step off the street, away from the traffic, hustle, bustle and stress, have a gin and tonic and see and hear something passionate.”

l The Long Insiders are giving away six signed copies of their new vinyl single. To have a chance of winning one, simply tell us your favourite item of vintage clothing – and why. The best answers win. Easy. Answers by 5pm Wednesday to tim.hughes@oxfordmail.co.uk. Usual rules apply and the Editor’s decision is final.

* The Long Insiders play the Jericho Tavern, Walton Street on Saturday. Support is from Good Things Happen in Bad Towns and DJ The Memphis Flash. Tickets are £5 from wegottickets.com