By all ear-witness accounts the GALACTIC COWBOYS were the loudest band ever to play Greenbelt. 57 on the scale when the legal limit' is 40; James Attlee looks at the band with the line in window-shattering rock.

"It's the combination of the two; the heaviness with the sweet melody. It's a lot of what makes us tick, "adds Ben.

"It's fun for me because I get to do every kind of music I like" enthuses Alan.

"Yeah, there's not a base we don't cover as far as influences go" Dane goes on. "We all get the chance to express ourselves musically the best way we can and we love it. There's no influence I don't get to express in this band and I'm sure that's the same for everyone."

Coming from a land obsessed with musical categories, with separate charts and radio shows for every genre of music, the band were asked where they slotted in.

"They categorise us as Bohemian Polka," says Ben, "kind of Polka. I don't know, I guess someone's gonna do it eventually and say these guys are (he bangs his fist as the table as though signing a document) THIS."

"Ben lies awake in bed at night trying to think up a new name for it all" reveals Monty. "I tell him relax man, just try to get some sleep...'"

The whole band seem pretty relaxed, considering that their first album has just hit the streets worldwide. Relaxed but enthusiastic - a good combination. Could they be about to follow other notable Tex -as eccentrics like Sam The Sham and the Pharaohs, Commander Cody and the Lost Planet Airmen and ZZ Top, experts all at subverting musical genres, into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? (What do you mean you've never heard of Sam the Sham? Shame on you!) I hope so.

"It's just an extension of our lives" Dane told a journalist recently. "It's who we are. All the comical stuff, that's part of us. We act like that if we were all four going to the grocery store together, knocking each other around and breaking lights and stuff."

"Accidentally now," clarifies Ben. "Were not vandals. We're just clumsy, alright?"

Alright.