Independent (3/3) By Katherine Horrex Photos by Darren Rogers

(1/3), (2/3), (3/3).

Giles blinked as he gathered himself, increasingly unable to comprehend the girl's antipathy. "Well," he spluttered, "I'm a reviewer and I've seen thousands of bands already this year and none of them have had the same lyrical depth as those guys. "Lyrical depth?" the girl interjected, slamming the glass washing machine door defiantly, "What - 'uh-oh, uh-oh, we're gonna go, go rule the world'? You're taking the piss." "You mark my words, they'll be on the front cover of Bandman next week, with infectious indie power-pop like that."

He continued, aggressively, "They have the image, the songs - the whole package. In fact, I'm just off to see if I can get a free CD outside." "You do that," said the woman, "I'm just off to clean some sick from the floor of the girls bogs."

Having placed the glass that he had been clutching on the bar, Giles left the empty venue to find one of the Cotes by their tour van. The air was bitter and the stars gleamed down on the world; frosty, aloof. "Loved your set man," he said. The guitarist, surrounded by a gaggle of various blondes, grunted in bare acknowledgment of the compliment. "I'm a reviewer - you know Bandman magazine?" "Oh aye? Come with me," he said, suffused with energy and putting his arm around Giles' shoulder. "I'll get you a copy of our album. For free, like."

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