It's 2002, and Billy Lunn - teenage guitarist and resident of not-so-glamorous Welwyn Garden City - fancies entering the local band competition. The only problem is he doesn't have a band.

So, undeterred by their complete lack of experience, he enlists his brother Josh and girlfriend Charlotte as drummer and bassist respectively.

Although the newly-formed Subways learn to play their instruments "within about a week", the band somehow make it to the semi-finals and are inspired to keep playing together.

Fast forward to 2004 and the group enter another band competition - this time a chance for new bands across the nation to play at the Glastonbury festival. This time they win first prize, even being 'upgraded' from the New Bands tent to The Other Stage.

"It was an amazing and daunting experience for us, because before that we'd played at most in front of 100 people," says Charlotte. "It was a really receptive crowd - they were listening, watching and cheering for us."

Barely pausing to draw breath, The Subways went on to perform at the Reading and Leeds festivals and were snapped up by Infectious Records after supporting the likes of Graham Coxon, The Von Bondies, Charlotte Hatherley and The Tears.

The band have been tipped to hit the big time in 2005 by Zane Lowe, NME and Q - and so far things are going to plan, with the recent release of their debut single Oh Yeah and their debut album set to drop this month. The Welwyn Garden City local band competition must seem very far away indeed, but they're keeping their feet on the ground.

"Being in a band hasn't made much difference to us brothers," Billy says. "We used to play football together, then we used to nick stuff off peoples' clothes-lines. It's just another part of life for us, a natural progression."

Yet he does admit that the stresses of rock 'n' roll life have taken their toll. "I've thrown my guitar at Josh before," he admits.

"Charlotte's dove at Josh, Josh has thrown his snare at me and I've tried to kick Charlotte."

So far, so rock 'n' roll - but what about the music? Well, in between assaulting each other, they've been in the studio with one-time Lightning Seed Ian Broudie, whose production credits include The Zutons, The Coral and Echo and the Bunnymen.

Although often portrayed as part of the garage rock revival, Charlotte insists that the Subways have lots of influences. Indeed, one of the reasons for choosing to work with Broudie was that "we liked the fact that he'd worked with so many different bands and was such a diverse producer".

This Brighton appearance is a great opportunity to hear this new material performed live by an attractive group.

Not only do Charlotte's mini-skirts ensure she is never short of audience attention, but, according to Josh, she's not alone: "We all get it at every show."

Listen and ogle.

Starts 7pm, tickets cost £8.