So they’re young. The Soft Parade have emerged at a significant moment, a time when British rock music is starting to shake itself free from the dreary sclerosis of the past few years. In this context, of course, the band’s age is strictly relevant. Tomorrow belongs to the young.

The nucleus of The Soft Parade is two brothers. Alex White, the vocalist and guitarist, is 18-years-old; he’s two years older than the band’s drummer, Tom White. They are too young to have been immersed in the dying embers of Britpop and just old enough to believe they can make a difference to the new.

The brothers still live in Brighton, their hometown. Members have come and gone, but the band has always ended up with Alex and Tom. They have been playing together since 1996, although the serious idea of a band only really emerged last year. It was then that the brothers made a demo which, by luck and good fortune, found its way to Xfm, the London radio station.

The demo was also heard by db Records, a new independent label who were mightily impressed by the energy and sheer musical ambition of the brothers. A first single, Silent to the Dark, was released in April 2001.

“Alex and Tom are The Soft Parade, Brighton’s newest mutant radiation pop tykes who have made the most flabbergasting debut single since, well, The Strokes actually,” claimed one music commentator.

“It starts off like Teenage Fanclub going stadium before mutating into a shimmery psycho-psychedelic finale. Which places them at the very epicentre of all that is cool and aiiiii in the world of teen nutterdom.”

Whether the band recognise themselves in such a description is open to question. When asked about their music, they take the self-deprecating approach.

“To people who want to know what we’re like, I’d say shitty old indie shit basically,” says Alex. “But with the added twist of it actually being OK.”

The band share their name with an old Doors album, but don’t take that as some kind of special Lizard King homage. The brothers were also brought up on a musical diet of the Buffalo Springfield, the Beach Boys, the Boo Radleys and The Charlatans. Whether these are significant influences is also open to debate because, most of all, The Soft Parade are about forging their own particular and distinct musical identity.

But it’s early days yet. A second single, the double a-sided Empty at the End / Sumatran, is released on Monday 23rd July. It corresponds with The Soft Parade’s first national tour, fittingly opening at Brighton’s Pressure Point club on 17th July. The tour ends with appearances at the Reading and Leeds Festivals on 25th and 26th August.

The Soft Parade’s debut album will be available at the end of 2001.