EVERY now and then a band comes along whose music makes you wonder how you got by without them in your life.

Phoenix Foundation are that band.

North-East gig goers may have caught them at the Cluny earlier this year when they opened for the Go! Team and having heard them theres no doubt they are deserving of headline status.

Well-known in their part of the world, having garnered a whole host of awards, the Phoenix Foundation, name taken from a fictional organisation from the TV show MacGyver, have now emerged from under the radar over here.

"It's mostly a theoretical or conceptual change really," said guitarist and vocalist, Luke Buda explaining their rise to prominence. "It is nice to come over here and have some people turn up to gigs and obviously dig it and to feel like we are not wasting our time."

The latest album, Buffalo, has been receiving rave reviews from some of the nations foremost critics, but Buda is not getting carried away with the adulation.

"It's certainly very satisfying, though in saying that thou must always be careful with how much press thou readeth about yourself, good or bad," he said. "Or at least not let it get to you too much. Reviews are like horoscopes, if they're good then "woo hoo!" if they're bad then they obviously don't really mean anything and who cares anyway?"

So what does Buda put down to their success over here?

"Getting a record deal with a great and well respected record company helped," he said. "And having good people working with us. Seriously, this may sound like a robotic response, but having savvy folk involved in the evil industry side of things is mighty helpful.

"Also, luckily, people seemed to like the album."

Buda is as laid back in interview as he appears on stage, stereotypically Antipodean you might say.

"I think the fact that we're in our 30's has as much to do with the apparent angst-free factor," he said. "There's a bit more angst in the earlier recordings, and my solo albums are just downright depressing. It is very hard for me to have any objectivity about how much our environment affects our "art".

"This is perhaps an intangible thing, though surely the scenery and general lack of population and the fact that even with our meagre funds we can afford to have a very large practice and recording space by a large field must rub off."

Though in the midst of touring, Buda says he is already looking forward to getting back into the recording studio.

"I am just keen to get into it and have lots of ideas," he said. "We may try to make a party album. But it could turn out to be a pretty sad mellow party."