Scouting for Girls

UK indie pop band from Harrow, Middlesex, formed in 2005 by friends Roy Stride (vocals/keyboards), Greg Churchouse (bass) and Peter Ellard (drums). The band name was intended as a mildly humorous play on the words of the Scouting For Boys handbook, first published nearly a century previously. The band quickly built up a large online MySpace following and in February 2007 they signed to Epic Records. The EP, Its All Not You, followed in June, with the trio's gentle piano-led music gaining comparison to the work of US singer-songwriter Ben Folds. Lyrically the material shared much of the working-class street cred quality of the Arctic Monkeys, with much of the material focusing on childhood anecdotes and doomed early teenage relationships. The EP was well received in the UK and the trio's charming debut single, "She's So Lovely", reached the UK Top 10. Their self-titled debut album was released at the end of the year and achieved an encouragingly high placing on the UK album chart (it finally reached the top at the start of 2008). The album featured a clutch of polished and witty radio-friendly pop songs, including the irritatingly lovely "Keep On Walking", "It's Not About You" and "Elvis Ain't Dead", a light-hearted song about the denial of a break-up with the humorous chorus "and Elvis ain't dead and you're coming back".