DETERMINED Darwen band Spiral Minds aim to make the grade despite having narrowly missed out on a deal with a record label.

Mercury records had been impressed with their bright, polished indie pop sounds. But after watching the group over a six month period, when push came to shove, the label decided the songs weren't quite right.

Undeterred, the lads brought in new bass player Rick Roberts, who finally completed the line-up.

And with Tam Douglas on drums, Craig Prescott on acoustic guitar and vocals and Adam Lewis on guitars, started rebuilding the group.

Adam said: "Despite all the knockbacks we're still going but now were musically much stronger."

Having settled together as a unit and with new manager Trevor Davies at the helm, the group believe they have a solid foundation to work from.

Adam said: "Even the original stuff is being filled out and sounding better, but we've started also writing together again and jamming out new stuff."

And with a whole batch of new songs in the bag they are on the verge of of returning to Darwen's Cue Music to record their second CD.

Tam Douglas said: "We have seven new songs nearly ready to record, which we may end up putting out on our own later in the year."

Style wise they take ideas from across the last three decades, ranging from acoustic numbers with a sunshine 70's feel to darker, grunge influenced tracks.

With a solid fanbase in their hometown, the lads have already been confirmed for this year's Darwen Music Festival in May.

But fans can also catch them on Friday night in Accrington when the play a free gig at the George.