Sons Of Noel And Adrian have just returned from a tour of Germany where they discovered several things – their music is sexual and can make grown men weep.

Following a Liz Green support slot at the Burning Eagle Festival and a few moist eyes, one man took the time to tell the band that, like Pearl Jam, their music was “sexual” – which is some feat for an alt-country band without a PVC trouser or electric guitar in sight. “It’s really nice to know our music has that effect on people,” laughs guitarist Tom Cowan.

The band formed two years ago from Cowan, his old friend Jacob Richardson and usually around another ten musicians.

In turn, they’re all part of Brighton’s Willkommen Collective – a loose-knit community of musicians and bands which includes Shoreline, The Leisure Society, Moonshine Moonshine, Atlas Crease, Laish Quartet and The Miserable Rich. Apart from a recent breakdown on the M1 and being loosely compared to Pearl Jam, things are going pretty well for the Sons Of Noel And Adrian. Germany loves them and their self-titled debut has attracted impressive reviews, aside from the miserly 3/10 and cutting words dealt by the NME, “This Brighton collective’s debut breaks under the weight of its own pretension”. But as Cowan points out, lo-fi alt-country isn’t exactly the magazine’s bag.

“They put Green Day on the cover – it’s not a music magazine. They also gave Leisure Society (another Willkommen Collective band) 3/10 for their album, which makes us feel a lot better. I’m not too bothered about reviews.

If someone writes something nice about us, great.”

Lots of people, most in fact, have written nice things about their debut, which was recorded in Cowan’s Brighton bedroom. “All the great music is DIY”, he insists.

The album is beautiful but morose. At a recent Glasgow gig they were asked to play something happy and responded with The Drink Drive, “a chirpy upbeat number about a girl being dismembered in a car crash”. But the band, which insists “we don’t do happy songs”, has at least one reason to crack a smile – Leisure Society’s Nick Hemming is up for an Ivor Novello Award.

The fellow Willkommen Collective musician’s mandolin-heavy nomination has not harmed Sons Of Noel And Adrian’s latest release. “We’ve had more hits to our website since Nick’s nomination, which can only be a good thing,” says Cowan.

  • Other Willkommen Collective showcases at Brighton Festival: May 9 – Leisure Society, Shoreline and Kristen McClement; May 23 – Laish Quartet, Hamilton Yarns, Rowan Coupland.
  • 9pm, £8.50, 01273 709709