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The Answering Machine
Mission accomplished, then, because it's undeniable that this fast rising Manchester three-piece make a similarly melodic indie-pop noise.
"We're into a lot of Swedish bands as well," adds the frontman, "like The Radio Dept and The Shout Out Louds. There's loads of great bands over there that have got a real sense of melody. British music seemed to lose that for a while."
Agreed, but that's changing fast and with the likes of fellow Mancunians Polytechnic taking a tuneful route to the mainstream, the city seems to be enjoying something of a resurgence.
"Manchester seemed to have died a death when we started uni", says guitarist Patrick, "now you can go to a gig pretty much any night of the week."
"For so long Manchester's been resting on its laurels," agrees bass player Gemma, "but that's changing. With the university getting much bigger now there's this creative epicentre, and I think it's going to come into its own this year."
The Answering Machine are testament to that, forming during their time as students in the city. Gemma and Patrick both studied English, and found themselves in all of the same classes.
"We had to be friends!", he jokes, "It's weird how people seem to get the same ideas at the same time. I mean, we'd never heard of Polytechnic but when we found out about them they seemed to be making a similar kind of music to us."
Put simply, that music is joyous, sweet-sounding guitar-pop with Martin's often yearning vocals chronicling the oft-discussed subjects of love and loss. But, really, the music is so bright and upbeat he could be singing about mass genocide and you'd still leave with a smile on your face, like I did the first time I saw them support The Rumble Strips in Sheffield.
"That gig was so much fun!", recalls Patrick, "People were dancing and singing along... we don't even get that in Manchester!"
Half an hour later, he's proved wrong as an XFM slot in their adopted hometown's Urbis exhibition centre goes down a storm with a committed contingent at the front singing and jigging along.Both times I've seen them, there's been friendly ribbing from the crowd about their lack of a (human) drummer.
"We searched for a while but we struggled to find one," Martin tells me, "So we decided to try using a drum machine. The idea was we were going to use that until we found a proper drummer but we never have done. Then we grew quite attached and Patrick thought up a few names."
Mustafa Beat was the moniker they chose, and it stuck. Sadly, their next purchase wasn't quite as successful...
"We bought a speak 'n' spell on Ebay from this horrible man... I don't know where he lives, but you're the worst Ebayer ever mate! It took about two months to come and it was broken when it arrived. He didn't even try to help fix it, so I sent it back. I haven't given him any negative feedback yet, but I should."
So did their name come from this passion for technology?
"No... we tried to come up with a crazy story behind it but we couldn't," says Patrick, "The truth is that me and Martin were walking to the pub one night and I said 'I think we should be in a band called The Answering Machine'."
Now they are, and 2007 promises to be a big year for this talented trio.
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