With Scotland On Sunday naming them the most likely Scottish breakthrough on the national pop scene for 2008, coupled with a gig diary to make anyone wince, the pressure is on for Parka.

According to frontman and songwriter Matt Thomson, the Scottish five-piece have been on a never-ending tour since the January release of their single Disco Dancer.

"As soon as we finish the single promotion we are into the next tour," he says. "It's good fun playing pretty much every night. It keeps you out of mischief anyway."

Throw in the pressure of also living together when they are not travelling, in a former East London strip club, and you could have a recipe for disaster.

"It can get stressful," admits Thomson. "There are high and low points, but it is what we want to do, and there are certainly more high points."

The band's sound has been described as "skindie", a combination of ska and indie, probably owing to the fact they have a sax player as well as the usual guitar, bass, drums and keys line-up.

"It's a compliment that someone would think about it long enough to make up a new genre," says Thomson The early single If You Wanna? certainly owes something to The Clash in their reggae-influenced early days, and Thomson's voice draws parallels with fellow countrymen The View.

Parka's only real break from the road last year came with their long stint in the studio to put together their debut album with Rumblestrips and Blood Red Shoes producer Iain Gore.

"We started in March and finished at the end of the summer," says Thomson.

"I'm a bit of a control freak in a way that can p*** off the other boys. I do like to have control over everything, to the point where I'm like Monica in Friends.

"The thought was in my mind that if there was anything I wasn't happy with, we were going to have to promote it for a while, so I wanted to make sure it was as good as it could be."

This attention to detail could also come from the commitment Thomson put into the band during the early days when he was a struggling songwriter living with his parents back in 2004.

"I spent a lot of time writing and drinking and going stir crazy," he says. "I was feeling trapped, and that's where a lot of the lyrics come from. Most of the songs are about going out and having a laugh. It is important to write from the heart."

The album Attack Of The Hundred Yard Hardman, which is out in April, takes its name from a known phrase in Thomson's own native Prestwick.

"A hundred yard hardman thinks they are proper tough, but only from a safe enough distance," says Thomson.

"We got attacked by one of them in Blackpool when we were shooting a video. He followed us down this long road and then when we were quite far away from him he chucked a big bottle at us.

"It was quite ironic that at least we now had a story to go along with the title. Hopefully the whole country will start to use the phrase now."

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