CHAMPIONED by the music media in their native Northern Ireland, it is easy to see why Underbelly, with their melodic indie-pop, are starting to make waves in the music world.
Edinburgh-based but Bangor raised, the four-piece, who play at the Liquid Room tomorrow, formed in 2003, choosing their name after a boozy night out during the Fringe.
Lead singer Alan Davison says: "Choosing the name of a band is a bloody nightmare and actually more difficult than writing songs.
"We were having a big session during the Festival and ventured to the Underbelly in the Cowgate. By about 3am the word Underbelly started to look really good on all the posters plastered around the venue so, over another beer, we made the decision to pick that as our name."
The newly-christened outfit, comprising Davison, Mikey Cameron, Simon Quinn and Simon Ferguson, played their first gig at Heriot Watt University in May 2003, and two shows later were playing to a packed Princes Street Gardens at the Ross Bandstand.
Davison recalls: "Our first couple of gigs were patchy, as you'd expect from any new band, but the songs were there from the start. After a second gig in Bannerman's the sound had moved up a level and by the Princes Street Gardens gig we were ready for anything."
Although his band are often compared to Snow Patrol - another Northern Ireland-born, Scotland-based quartet - Davison is quick to play down the connection.
"This is something that has been mentioned more and more this year, but I don't hear exact similarities," he says.
"I am a fan of the band, though, they're a lovely bunch of blokes who write great pop songs.
"I guess I try to be clever and subtle in some of the song lyrics that I write, which is a genius trait of Gary Lightbody's, and try to create tingling chorus lifts whenever possible.
The nearest similarity is the fact that three of Underbelly are from Northern Ireland, a familiar setup with the Patrol.
"I will add that I spent six hours in A E with their guitarist, Nathan Connolly, when after a night out of Guinness and woeful pool-playing he attempted to demonstrate his skills as a trapeze artist on some scaffolding.
"He managed to land on his back, break his collar bone and wreck his leg a week before his first gig with Snow Patrol at the Liquid Room.
"I can't help feeling somewhat responsible," says Davison with a smile, "But I did warn him there would be tears before bedtime. I think the band are doing well enough now for Nath to forget his career as an acrobat."
As well as being mates with the Snow Patrol boys, Underbelly already have some notable gigs under their belts.
They include support slots for Zane Lowe favourites Cherry Falls (now The New York Fund), The Grim Northern Social, Cosmic Rough Riders and Noel Gallagher's first label signing, Proud Mary.
September 2005 saw the band head home across the water to Belfast for a whirlwind visit to promote their EP Come In To Land, which debuted on Radio Ulster's Across the Line show.
The programme is notable for having aired the early efforts of acts like Ash, Divine Comedy, Snow Patrol and Iain Archer.
Apart from playing one of Belfast's premier venues, The Empire, for the CD launch, Underbelly performed an in-store session in Virgin Megastore, conducted interviews on local radio and made an appearance on Ulster Television's prime-time news and entertainment show UTV Live, before returning to Edinburgh to begin booking more gigs around Scotland.
In May the band took part in the T in the Park unsigned bands competition, T-Break, to a packed-out Liquid Room, with a resulting profile boost in their adopted home city.
Tomorrow sees the band return to the Liquid Room, this time as double headliners alongside Elkin, and Davison says anyone heading along to the gig can expect the band to be in great form.
"It's a good date for a gig with everyone off work and hopefully finished their Christmas shopping," he says. "We tend to just enjoy ourselves on stage and get into it as much as possible. We're a tight band live.
"For us, the important things when we are playing live is making sure all the choruses sit up well and engaging the crowd, so they walk away with the songs playing in their heads."
With an album planned in the new year and a support slot with Iain Archer in Edinburgh booked for February, the future looks bright for a band whose soaring, melodic sound makes a refreshing change after what has been a few years now of Franz Ferdinand copycats.
On Underbelly's chances of making an impact next year, Davison is realistic.
"We really want to raise the bar next year. At this level we do need to rack up the support and get our name heard in wider circles. We need promoters like DF Concerts to notice us and see the potential.
"We're not out to change the world or anything with our music or invent a new genre - we just do what we do and we do it well.
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