The shits who'd robbed the primary school library had finally been caught...

It's a ToePoke exclusive - these boys will be big, mark our words...

We're miserable, cynical bastards here at ToePoke. We'd struggle to get excited if we learned that we'd won a free foot massage from that cheerleader from Heroes. So you wouldn't think that a confident and quirky new band from the North East would have us nodding our heads in enjoyment.

But, we're not ashamed to say that's the effect Little Comets have on us, as we've been fortunate enough to have seen these chaps on several occasions already. Without wanting to sound like a poor man's Zane Lowe, we reckon they're gonna be big. So we got lead singer Rob on the blower before they want nothing to do with annoying goons like us ever again...

Hi Rob, hows tricks? You've been busy sods recently haven't you?

Yeah. It's weird because we had the Hockey tour, and then we found out we were doing the Noisettes tour. We had two weeks in the middle of that, and suddenly the offer came through to do the Twang as well. So it was great in the sense of being busy but the girlfriends weren't happy!

They'd better get used to you all being away from home though surely?

I suppose so, but we'd better keep that one quiet I think!

We're saying nowt. What's been your favourite venue so far?

We played Coco the other night with The Twang, and that was brilliant. We'd never played in a venue like that before. It was huge, an old theatre, so that was pretty good.

You've built a reputation for playing unannounced gigs at Uni lectures. Done any recently?

Yeah we did Cambridge just last week!

The posh lot! How did they take it?

Surprisingly, they were fine. But there was one crazy Glaswegian bloke working as a porter in one of the buildings and he went mental and chucked us out! Other than that, they were no different from anyone else.

Who came up with that idea then?

That was Micky (lead guitar). He had the idea of playing to captive audiences, so we did trains and trams. Then one day he came into rehearsals and said “I've got a new one – lecture theatres!”. And it took him about two hours to persuade us that we wouldn't get arrested. Then we did one at Durham, and from there everywhere we've gone we've tried to hit the Unis.

The students must love it. But don't the lecturers go batshit?

It's a good "fight or flight" study, because they'll stand next to the board and they'll either come for you or quiver in the corner, so it's pot luck to what we get!

What do you do to keep yourselves entertained on tour?

We spend a lot of time in the van, so we have a lot of van games. Such as a toot and wave! We've also lost about six footballs.

You'll do well at this interviewing lark, cos you've linked in beautifully to our next question – football. What with us being a football website and all that...

Yeah I know, I was on it the other day reading about who you like least out of El Hadji Diouf and traffic wardens...

We have readers! Tremendous news. So who did your sympathy lie with?

I'd say I like Diouf, because he seems to have a bit of banter, whereas traffic wardens don't have any. Diouf's a bit of a nutter.

Indeed. So who do you all support?

I support Sunderland, Matt's (bass) a Newcastle fan, and Micky plays football but he's not too arsed about following a team. Mark's (drums) a Newcastle fan as well.

That must make for inter-band rivalry?

It's really good because our tour manager Steve is a big Sunderland fan, so him and Matt go at it quite a bit. But Matt used to be a season ticket holder at St James' Park, and last week he went on a day's training with John Beresford and Rob Lee.

Top work. How did that go?

Well we had a gig that evening somewhere in Newcastle, and he put them on the guest list. But they didn't turn up.

The shits.

Yeah, he was pretty gutted at the no-show but he was chuffed to have a kick-around with Rob Lee.

Fair enough. Do you get to many games?

I went to Hull earlier this season (Sunderland won 4-1), I was pleasantly surprised as it was the first time I'd been in a while. I got a season ticket at the end of the season where Michael Bridges scored a couple against Huddersfield and we won 3-2. From then for the next five or six years I went all the time until Uni.

Who were your favourite players?

I remember crying when Marco Gabbiadini left, I was still quite young! And I used to really like Nicky Summerbee. I went to school in Hebburn and it was a mix between Newcastle and Sunderland fans. The Newcastle fans used to rip the piss out of Summerbee, so I used to come up with the statistic that he was the second best crosser in the league behind David Beckham! Him and Makin were quality down the right hand side.

As for this season, are you happy with Brucey in charge?

He did a good job at Wigan, his signings seemed good. While Keane would sign 10 or 15 players and hope a couple would turn out well, Bruce seems more composed. He's done a good job so far.

Are you missing your two north east friends at all?

I'm not so bothered about Boro. What's mental about Newcastle fans is that they're always so horribly optimistic. Like at the start of last season I was having a conversation with a Newcastle fan who insisted they'd be challenging for Europe. And when you looked at the squad it was clear they wouldn't! They were terrible! And again it's the same this season, because they're top of the Championship suddenly next season they're going to rock the Premier League again!

So that's a no then?

When I'm not speaking to Newcastle fans I miss them being in the Premier League for the craic for the derby matches, but when I speak to them I just think, I'm so glad they're in the Championship!

And what about yourselves, are you handy with a ball at your feet?

Matt's a quality little goalkeeper, Micky thinks he's better than he is. He's good but he just doesn't pass the ball. And I'm a left back, so I get rid of the ball as quick as I can and try and kick Micky!

So would you fancy your chances in one of those celebrity Soccer Six tournaments?

I think if we were pulling some ringers I think we might be alright.

Like John Beresford?

Good shout! And Rob Lee, that'd be quality!

Finally then Rob, what's the plan for the next few months? When's the album out?

The single is out this week, then we'll be on tour quite a bit in November, playing colleges and stuff. Then I think maybe the album will be March or April next year.

After an eventful summer full of festivals, recording and heat avoidance, Newcastle quadrilateral Little Comets are set to release their first single on Columbia Records, 'Adultery' on October 26th.