SCOTTISH rockers Idlewild may have taken their name from the book Anne Of Green Gables, but the rockin' foursome are far from quaint.

The band, whose debut album, 100 Broken Windows, was released earlier this year, play Portsmouth's Pyramid Centre on October 10 as part of a full UK tour.

The band met five years ago at a party in Edinburgh, where they all discovered they had similar tastes in music.

They played their first gig early in 1996 and spent the rest of the year writing tunes and touring in and around Edinburgh and Glasgow.

The band wisely put their student loans into recording a demo which produced their first single, Queen of the Troubled Teens.

That single attracted the attention of Radio 1's Steve Lamacq, which in turn helped get support slots with The Fall and GoldBlade.

In September 1997 the band reached the finals of a National music competition called In The City, a success they followed up with the release of their second single, Chandelier, and a mini-album, Captain, for Deceptive Records which earned them rave reviews in the national music press.

The band eventually signed with Food Records in late 1997 and their growing reputation as a great live band saw them support Travis.

"We do like to go completely mad," admits singer Roddy Woomble.

"I smashed my front tooth out with my microphone in Amsterdam, got a false one fitted and then smashed it out again a few weeks later."

The band's signing with Food Records prompted another string of tour dates, while April that year saw their first Food single, A Film For The Future, acclaimed by Melody Maker as "the best livid rock single since Smells Like Teen Spirit, bar absolutely nothing".

The band released their first proper album, Hope Is Important, in October 1997 which was described - again by the Melody Maker - as "a near perfect album".

A few more prestigious support slots followed in the shape of Ash, Placebo and the Manic Street Preachers before Idlewild unleashed the single Little Discourage during their summer shows.

This year started well for the band with the release of the singles Actually It's Darkness and These Wooden Ideas as well as their second album, 100 Broken Windows.

The band begin their Autumn tour at Portsmouth Pyramids Centre on October 10, before a string of dates that finishes at London's Shepherds Bush Empire on November 26. Tickets are available from the Pyramids box office on 023 9286 3911.

PAUL GREEN