Finding themselves championed by Noel Gallagher as one of the best acts to of their generation has stood the Coral in fine stead.

From supporting Oasis at their spiritual home of Manchester City’s ground to touring the world in their own right has attracted a broad and appreciative fanbase.

The band have been more than happy to reciprocate the favour by inviting Gallagher senior to play with them at the BBC’s electric Proms shows last year.

Keeping a relatively low profile in recent years has demonstrated they’ve learnt from their early years in which a tendency to speak a little too frankly too often ran them into hot water with the national press.

Yet the results speak for themselves with memorable singles hits including Dreaming of You, Pass it On and In The Morning, they have clocked up a tally of five top 10 albums.

They have weathered their personal storms surrounding the departure of guitarist Bill Ryder-Jones, which had caused considerable unease within the band.

His parting came in the wake of last year’s acoustic flavoured Roots and Echoes album. It saw them take a more laid-back approach from the pyschedelia of past recordings.

It’s a formula that suits them well, though frontman James Skelly is relatively modest about their achievements.

We were pleased with the last album but I think we could have done it better. We’re moving on now since Bill left and feel like more of a band again," explained the softly-spoken Liverpudlian singer battling with a case of heyfever prior to an Isle of Man festival gig.

"We’ve been busy recording some new tracks and having Ian Broudie (of the Lightening Seeds) work with us on a couple of them is always good as he appreciation of the music."

While 2008 has gotten off to a relatively awkward start for the band, events appear to be settling down within their ranks.

With friendships going back to their schooldays in Merseyside, they have survived far longer than many of their contemporaries.

The post-Britpop scene which they had help kick-start had been badly in need of an injection of alternative sounds. The ambtious lads from the Wirral duly obliged with their Mercury Award nominated debut album in 2002.

"I knew the band from school days when we were listening to Oasis, The Beatles and Verve. We just took the approach of whatever happens happens. We are quite close as a group. There are a lot of bands out there that if you take the wages away they would never see each other again.

When our first album got nominated for a Mercury I didn’t know what it was really, but it’s nice to be put up for things like that."

Its follow up proved to be a mainstream breakthrough which gave them the confidence to release a dark, experimental mini-album, Nightfreak and the Sons of Becker, which they put together in record time in just over a week.

Despite its hasty assembly, this also made the upper reaches of the charts despite no tracks being released from it.

Much has been made of their musical shenanigans but finding out finding out about the band beyond the music proves trickier. At 28, James, who still lives in the Liverpool area says there’s now a lot less pressure on him than before.

He says the band hang out whenever possible but as for their ideal night on the town, "you couldn’t print it," which leaves far more questions than it answers. But perhaps that’s not unexpected for a group who have always enjoyed retaining a bit of mystery.

Of all the gigs they’ve played over the past decade it’s something of a surprise to learn that their latest was their frontman’s favourite.

"I think the best gig we’ve done is the one we just played in Manchester. We were not expecting it to be as great as it was but it just went really well, playing in this old ballroom in the city."

As they approach the big 3-0 their songwriting has definitely matured on inspection of the group’s mid-60s inspired sound.

In recent times they’ve expressed a desire to write for soundtracks including horror b movies- something their darker edged material would certainly suit well.

However, their Kent debut at Lounge on the farm is set to be a more mellow affair as they headline the Sunday nigh with an acoustic set. It may come as something of a surprise to some fans, but a pleasant one all the same.

"I think we are pretty acoustic anyway, but we just won’t be doing tracks like Arabia, which I’m bored of doing anyway. So it won’t be too different from what people have heard before. It’s going to be interesting playing on a farm."

Lounge on the Farm runs from Friday, July 11 to Sunday, July 13.

An adult weekend ticket costs £85/£40 for children. A day ticket is £35 for adults, £20 for children.

For full details visit www.loungeonthefarm.co.uk