POP Will Eat Itself were the poster boys of ‘Grebo,’ with big hair, big beats and big guitars.

Their sample-driven Indie rock, like the mind-bendingly danceable tune Can U Dig It, when PWEI sang, ‘We dig the remote control, the twilight zone and Alan Ball knows the score’, saw the cheeky chaps from the Black Country storm the charts with top 10 hit Get the Girl Kill the Baddies.

Now original member Graham Crabb has returned with a fresh incarnation of Pop Will Eat Itself as they prepare to join The Wedding Present, EMF, The Primitives and Thousand Yard Stare at the Gigantic Indie All-Dayer Festival in Manchester later this month.

This fourth celebration of all things indie will also feature sets from Jim Bob of Cater USM and Mark Morriss of the Bluetones.

The Wedding Present will be celebrating the 30th anniversary of their album George Best.

Graham said: “I’d been yearning for a return to Pop Will Eat Itself because I really feel it’s me, my best work and what I feel I was meant to do.

“I’d written 100 songs for Pop Will Eat Itself, songs that were meant for a Pop Will Eat Itself-like vehicle, so rather than attempt to copy myself, I re-built the whole vehicle again with a fresh five-piece band.

“Some fans thought it was sacrilege, but others loved it.

“But the thick skin that helped me through my time with the first Pop Will Eat Itself, with the critical panning we sometimes got, was the same thick skin that saw me through the rebuilding process and I’m proud of what we’ve achieved.”

Former Poppie’s singer Clint Mansell has found fame and fortune in America, and is now making film scores for Oscar-winning movies, while drummer Fuzz Townshend is presenting car programmes on TV.

But Crabb continues to fly the PWEI flag aloft, including a splendid album, New Noise Designed By A Sadist.

He recalled: “We started as a kind of do-it-yourself punk band, playing short, punky pop songs.

“We were a good bunch of mates, and we were constantly together.

“When Pop Will Eat Itself took off, it became a celebration of our friendship.”

He added: “Lots of things were happening at that time.

“Hip Hop was breaking big, we were hearing sampling on records, and acid house was still firing.

“I think it was a very inventive period for music. We were lucky to be around at that time.

“I suppose the end was similar to what happens with a lot of bands.

“Things start happening in your life and I offered to write for the band and not tour, but they felt that wasn’t what they wanted.

“We threw a few ideas around and nobody could agree so it came to a finish.

“But we’ve all stayed good friends.”

He said: “I can’t wait for Gigantic Indie All-Dayer. We’ll be doing quite a few of the old hits from the Def Con One era: Can You Dig It, Wise Up Sucker….right through to the new stuff.”

Pop Will Eat Itself, Manchester Gigantic Festival, Manchester Academy, Saturday, May 27. Doors open at 1.30pm at Manchester Academy. Details from 0161 832 1111.