For a band who’ve been together just under a year, aspiring indie act The Novels are making fine headway.

They have already received drive-time airplay on the BBC’s county radio and supported rock act Then Jericho, who scored top 10 album chart success in the late 80s.

The veteran stars spotted the Kent band on Myspace and invited them to play at a London gig earlier this summer which got them off to an encouraging start.

Notably they have also found corporate favour with Shepherd Neame beer Asahi, which has backed them on its website.

It’s certainly been a blast so far for their guitarist Adam Ready, who had nearly given up on playing after the demise of his former band.

"I’d been playing with Area 51 for seven years and built up a good following in Kent. But we all went our separate ways for university and didn’t play for a few years but really missed it," explained the 26-year old from Ashford.

It seems that many schools have lots of people in bands these days but when I started out there were very few back in the mid 90s. I went along to the Create Music festival which is held every year in Ashford and they had some good workshops there which got me interested. It turned out that our singer Rob also went along too but I didn’t know him back then."

While his former group were a more straightforward punk act, The Novels are a more considered proposition. Their laid-back US west coast sound with its strong vocals and guitars owes more to the Beach Boys than the Sex Pistols.

They’ve also a star weapon in the form of Maidstone-based female drummer Holly Goddon who has been keeping an eye on the lads (including her other half Matt on keyboards) over the last few months.

As for Adam, he revealed that he revealed it was Nirvana and Oasis that first got him hooked on playing music in his teens at The Towers School in Kennington.

By day the self-taught musician works as an ad manager for Kent Life magazine and says the music offers a fantastic contrast from his 9-5 lifestyle.

"Playing with the Novels is quite different from what I was used to and are taking a professional approach to it where things were a bit more raw before. It’s been good fun and we’ve been getting some good feedback from people at gigs from people who can’t believe we’ve only been together for a short amount of time. We’re really hoping to do well with the next heat of Battle of the bands at the Zebra bar."

The latter venue proved a fine testing ground for them at their last visit and are in upbeat mood having completed a self-produced mini album.

Its a surprisingly polished body of tracks considering they were essentially home demos. Rob’s melodic vocals are reminiscent of an early Evan Dando (of The Lemonheads) and demonstrates a fine songwriting flair.

With some convincing songs in their arsenal they’re keeping everything crossed that their efforts are rewarded by claiming their debut battle of the bands.

The Novels play the Clock Tower at the Herne Bay Festival, on August 23, The Battle of the Bands, Zebra Bar on August 27 and The Tap n Tin on October 21.