Fran Healey once said that he looked forward to a time when everyone would ask, "Which one's Travis?". Now, whether they like it or not, members of another band will be faced with a similar question. Only this time, everyone will be asking, "Which one's Earnest Cox?"

Yes. That's right. Earnest Cox is not a person at all. Rather they are a band. And a very good band at that.

There was a time in the mid-nineties when no self respecting indie band would feel complete without the addition of a horn section for the lively songs and strings for the more mellow moments. Examples are plentiful: Blur's Country House, The Manic Street Preachers' Kevin Carter and just about everything the Divine Comedy ever did.

Now, several years after the last of such indie bands died of boredom, Earnest Cox has taken up the baton once more and has brought the "proper" instruments back into the pop music fold. Horns, pianos and even a Hammond organ. Perhaps that's why the opening lyric of one of their songs is: "Why, hello there stranger".

Welcome back to the mid nineties.

Earnest Cox are a funky, swaggering band demanding your adoration. Immediate comparisons could be made with any number of indie bands: Shed Seven, Babybird and I am Kloot. Meanwhile, lead singer, La Windo's vocals sound like an early snarling Dylan, infused with all the arrogance of a Gallagher or two.

A distorted guitar, a piano, drums and finally a Hammond provide the introduction to "I Wanna Be Your Guy". As the layers are piled on slowly, you can't help but feel that this is going to be a great song, and you are not disappointed.

Full of confidence and self belief, La doesn't so much ask a girl out as tell her she's his: "You got a key and I'll unlock it." Quite what any prospective beaux will make of being called "chicken" is quite a different matter. But call her "chicken" he does.

"Talk of the Town" is the funkiest thing I've heard in the past five minutes. The horns parp away again, the Hammond goes wild and a couple of soul sisters sing cheerfully in the background.

The lyrics may not make sense on paper, but when you listen to them, all that changes. The confidence is there by the bucket load as Windo's vocals make plain he doesn't care what people are saying behind his back. And so he shouldn't. Unless he has some problem with people complimenting him.

That is not to say that Earnest Cox can't do quiet. They can. And they do it very well. As can be seen with the song "Happy Day". If you were expecting the London Community Gospel Choir to start singing about being taught how to watch and pray, then you'll be in for a surprise. But it'll be a good one.

The song charts the story of a couple who are still together only because they know nothing else. "Is that why you keep a pet that doesn't let you be alone?" La asks before launching into a soaring finale: "You and I: all we want is to be missed." It's a struggle for him to keep hitting the high notes, but this makes it all the more poignant. Partying and poignancy. What more do you want from a band?

So that's Earnest Cox. To misquote the entirely forgettable pre-S Club TV band, North and South, they're a "band not a boy". Pay attention. They are very, very good.

20/07/03 - First published on www.bbc.co.uk/gloucestershire on this link