The Greek island of Crete is an unlikely player in the genesis of any band, especially an American indie rock outfit. But it so happened that the five members of the LA band Grouplove met at an artists' residency on Greece's largest island in 2009.

Hannah Hooper and Christian Zucconi met Sean Gadd, Ryan Rabin and Andrew Wessen and recorded a handful of demos. After returning to America's west coast, the five reunited and resumed their musical holiday romance, under the name of Grouplove.

Their first, self-titled, EP was released in 2010 and it earned the young lovers a slot opening for Florence and the Machine on their US tour. A full-length debut, the excellently titled 'Never Trust a Happy Song', followed in September of this year. This followed their song 'Goldcoast' being used in the film 'The Sorcerer's Apprentice' and 'Tongue Tied' being picked up for an Apple iPod Touch advertising campaign.

'Colours', the lead single from the record, has been their biggest hit yet, reaching No 15 on the US Alternative chart and the Rock top 30. It has also been used in the soundtrack for the game 'FIFA 12', and is no doubt already familiar to pasty, gaming types everywhere.

Grouplove will be kicking off their 2012 tour in Brighton on 16th February, followed by gigs in York, Sheffield, Manchester, Glasgow, Dublin, Liverpool and Middlesbrough, Birmingham, before the final date at the Relentless Garage in London on 28th February.

We have tickets for most of the dates available now, priced from just £6. Tickets for the Birmingham show will cost £7, with the London date costing £10 - both on sale at 9AM on Friday 2nd December.