With The Fratellis on indefinite hiatus, the search for another arena-filling singalong rock band is on. Apparently, the serious contender to the title is Slough-bred foursome, Brother. Brother are hailed as 'new stars of 2011' by NME, with their Britpop leanings (the clothes, the sprechgesang and the attitude borrowed from the "Manchester scene" [quote]) and rebaptised 'Gritpop' because twenty years have passed, and cheeky front-man Lee Newell feels Brother have written the best songs in rock (!!!) [hang on - they also proclaim QPR as 'the home of football'! - Ed], with two of those being 'Time Machine' and 'Darling Buds of May'.

The quartet have a two-legged UK tour in the works with the first leg taking place between 13th February and 22nd February, via the cities of Leicester (13th) , Wrexham (16th) , Manchester (18th) and Cambridge (21st), with sold out shows in Leeds, Birmingham and London, and the second leg in April from the 11th through to the 19th, stopping by Reading, Yeovil, York, Sheffield, Glasgow and Dublin, among others.

In the meantime, they will play support to The Streets (from 23rd February to 12th March) and will showcase at South by South West in mid-March as well as playing a slot at this year's Isle of Wight Festival.

Can they walk the talk? You decide: it will cost you just under a tenner for the opportunity to assess.

Solange Moffi