If you're a fan of that cute American teen-TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer you'll know all about Four Star Mary - except the name of the band might be a tad unfamiliar, writes Tim Metcalfe.

In the TV show their guitar-fuelled power pop tunes are 'played' by the fictitious college outfit known as Dingos Ate My Baby, featuring the actor Seth Green, who plays Oz in the series.

As a result LA-based FSM has become, as one fanzine mused, "the most popular band in America that no-one has heard about."

But their anonymous success wasn't planned. Steve Carter (who plays bass) was working in catering on a film set, when: "I put our tape on the stereo. Then this guy came up to me - who turned out to be John King, the musical director of Buffy - and asked who the band was."

FSM's singer Zu takes up the story. "The next thing we knew we were turning on the TV and watching Seth Green play bad air guitar!"

Soon the band found itself on the receiving end of a deluge of e-mail from Buffy fans worldwide. And it's fan power that has brought to band to these shores - they kept perstering the band until they agreed to come over.

FSM'S short UK tour - with Oxford's Suriki as support - stops off at The Point tonight.

The link with Suriki came about because FSM's management team is run by Steve Coppock, who is originally from Oxford.

Steve keeps in touch with the Oxford scene via friends and had heard how good

Suriki were.

He checked them out and then decided to work with them. FSM became big Suriki fans - so when the UK tour came about it seemed a perfect match.

Suriki will be touring the US with FSM in 2001.

Interestingly FSM won't be following up their TV success by persuing a deal with a major label.

"We've seen so many of our friends get chewed up and spat-out when their first single doesn't get picked up by radio, or MTV won't play their video," says bassist Steve.

"Rather than risk being disillusioned and destroyed we want to focus on creating music and find the fans ourselves. Buffy has just raised our grass-roots effor to an international level!"

With influences ranging from The Sex Pistols to Catherine Wheel, Four Star Mary offers a strong mix of melodic songwriting, strong musicianship and passionate live performances.