Having caused a brief stir with their debut album, cunningly self-titled and released in 2009, The Drums' star hasn't been shining for as long as critics said it would - in short, aside from releasing a well-meant Japan earthquake benefit single, "The New World", it's been all quiet on the Brooklyn front. Until now, that is.

Following-up a debut as interesting as their self-titled set, is normally a tough proposition for any band, let alone these press-darlings. But the attention was worthy - they knocked out a few good singles in "Best Friend" and "Let's Go Surfing", reminiscent of angular indie bands of the mid-80s such as The Smiths, The Wake, The Loft and Marine, so perhaps that's why they get the nod from me.

They've now expanded their line-up with two extra musicians and lined-up a new album and a trio of intimate London dates to kick start the whole hype-machine, all over again. Maybe this time, their audience will widen. The acid-test will be "Portamento", their second album due for release in September, with song titles confirmed to include "Book of Revelation", "Money" (aired on Radio 1 this week) and "Searching for Heaven".

Those capital shows begin at the Hoxton Square Bar and Kitchen on 5th September, followed by The Lexington on the 6th and XOYO on the 7th. Tickets for all three go on sale tomorrow morning at 9am, priced at £12.50. You can expect to hear the new album songs, plus a few other Drums favourites - and on a geeky note, I wonder if they have realized they will be standing on the same stage as one of their influences, The Wake, stood and played on a couple of years back, at the Lexington!

Update: all three London dates sold out!

Well, they weren't the biggest venues, so what did you expect? Face value tickets for all London shows were snapped-up in minutes on Friday.