"I read somewhere that something happens that's really exciting in music every ten years . There was psychedelia in 1966, punk in '76 and now there this... maybe it's the moon or something". So says Paul Marsh, lead singer with Wolverhampton whizzies The Mighty Lemon Drops. So what's he on about? What's "this"? Is there really a musical "revolution" simmering right under our noses? Er... well, no one's very sure ackcheloi, but there are a lot of rather splendid new groups about right now who've been lumped together for no other reason than they all appeared at around the same time, haven't been together very long and are made up of people under 25. Some "journalists" have attempted to label the groups as the "Shambling Bands", whatever that means... "That's a load of rubbish!" states Paul in his Black Country lilt. "There's a lot of bands around now who who are just doing what they want to do, playing what they want to play and sometimes we play together, but that's it. To lump us under the same label is just ridiculous... to say that we all sound like one another is totally ridiculous. I think what's happened is that we're live bands. And a lot of people have been saying there seems to be a '60s influence to everything which I suppose is correct in a way. A sort of cross between '66 and '74 - I think that's it!"

So who are these pioneers of... er, whatever it is? The most "famous" ones so far are The Bodines, Primal Scream, The Wedding Present, The Shop Assistants, The Bolshoi and The Weather Prophets - i.e. none of them are actually very famous... "I think we will succeed, though", say's Paul. "We're just doing what we like and not trying to be like anything or look like anything. I know that our band wants to sell as many records as possible and to be heard by many people as possible. There's no point in trying to be some sort of hip band - we want to get in the charts". The Mighty Lemon Drops are one of the best of the new groups - they're supremely good live and they're just got themselves signed to a major record company, which means they might be famous quite soon. They've already released one single, "Like An Angel", on a weeny independent label which sold by the skipful, and their new one, "The Other Side Of You", is out next week. And they're only been a group for 14 months.

"Yeah, we've been really lucky, whispers Paul, who's quite cute possibly the shyest man in the cosmos. "Dave (guitarist and songwriter) and I were at school together and we met Keith and Tony (drummer and bass player/songwriter) at a club called JBs in Dudley. We just asked them if they wanted to form a band. We had about four songs and just started playing round Wolverhampton. We sent a demo-tape to Dan Tracie from Dreamworld Records and he really liked it! So we did 'Like An Angel' as a one-off and it's all gone great - Janice Long Sessions and Andy Kershaw... sometimes I don't think it's sunk in properly yet." No wonder. Not so very long ago Paul was a mechanic ("the most boring job in the world"). Tony was a van-driver, Dave was on the dole and keith was a slaughterman ("he loved it, he really did!"). The four lads have always been music fanatics, though, and they were lunatic punk rockers...

"Yeah - the spikey hair, all the gear, nearly getting thrown out the house and all that...it was brilliant!We couldn't get into gigs, though - we were only 12 or 13 in '76. I never thought about singing then - the first time I did was for a mate's demo-tape when I was 15 or 16. He just said 'have a go', so I did. God, I was frightened to death - I was shaking!" So bah! to all those people who reckon Paul has spent hours in his darkened bedroom trying to sound like Jim Morrison from The Doors (rather famous 'n' weird 60s group) which he's always being accused of. In fact, The Drops (to give them their full title) are always accused of sounding like rather a lot of people - especially Echo & The BUnnymen (which they do sound extremely like, it has to be said)...

"It doesn't bother me any more. If people are going to say it, they 'll say it. Well, nobody's totally original nowadays - everybody takes from things they like. I still consider us to be unique, though. Our songs are different, though we don't dress up or anything. We just wear black clothes - saves us washing them! The clothes we play in are the clothes we sleep and live in. Quite literally! We're just ordinary folks who picked up a guitar one day and decided to play some songs. I think that could be what makes us a bit special. It's brilliant..being ordinary..."