Merseyside has spawned its fair share of rock innovators, from The Beatles to Echo And The Bunnymen and The Teardrop Explodes.

Now, The Coral reach Brighton on Tuesday in the middle of their first headline tour.

Their third EP, Skeleton Key, was released to ecstatic reviews and a debut album - produced by The Lightning Seeds' Scouser Ian Broudie - is on its way.

The extraordinary title track sounds like Captain Beefheart dueting with Jim from The Royle Family in your own front room.

It charges along with a hare-brained exuberance that could only come from a youth spent absorbing a scary mishmash of influences.

Singer James Skelley, 21, confirms that "inspiration is everywhere", from Scooby Doo to flower power and from sea shanties to Russian folk. From the same EP, Darkness is a haunting ballad that Bob Dylan might have written had he been born in a Merseyside suburb. Dressed Like A Cow is a hilarious bit of goofy nonsense reminiscent of The Doors at their most tuneful.

Like all the most enduring pop songs, you can listen to these again and again and hear something different every time - stray noises, odd counter-rhythms and eccentric lyrics that tell stories in a similar manner to The Kinks.

The six lads in The Coral were schoolmates in Hoylake, described by the band as "a kind of anti-Blackpool".

James and Ian Skelley formed the band when they took guitarist Lee Southall home for tea, telling their mother he was "one of them Kosovan refugees".

They practised on Oasis tunes before writing their own ditties about dreams, sheriffs and men who look like plants.

"We all tried college, we all left. It wasn't very exciting and it wasn't very good," says James.

"It didn't seem like they actually wanted to teach you."

The Coral have signed to Sony but are unlikely to dilute their vision for a quick taste of commercial success.

This band can't be categorised. They do their own thing and it is not usually the same as the last thing they did.

James Skelley has a winning philosophy: "The way I think of making music is that it has no rules. If it sounds good, it is good."

The Coral will be supported by Goldrush and not The Music, as previously advertised. For tickets, call 01273 772770.

Report by Andy Fisher, features@theargus.co.uk