The Inbreds - Party Like It's 1985

In 2006, metal is a long way from its debauched heyday. But in an American dominated scene - one in which the only British bands that make it pretend to all hell that they hail from the US - thank Satan for The Inbreds,

The sextet are a band with gimmicks and a sound that guitarist Dean Lovett describes as "British booze-groove and riffage metal(!)," they are the only band this side of the Atlantic that just wanna rock hard. "We're damn proud not to be trying to copy any of the US metal bands like everyone else," Lovett tells The Skinny. "We're just gonna carry on making the music we want, getting as drunk as we want, partying like it's 1985…"

With metal too often criticised as a substandard genre, The Inbreds take no steps to defend themselves. They just don't give a fuck. "If someone feels that metal bands are unworthy and a throwback, that's fine. They are probably the same people listening to some untalented idiot calling themselves a DJ," he says, laying out a challenge to the purveyors of 'phat beats', "how about picking up a guitar and making some real music?"

Not that The Inbreds stop to think about what they do as 'real music'; they just play for the sake of it – because they are metalheads enraptured by their craft. "We do what we do, we love it, it makes us feel great and hopefully it makes the people watching feel great… When I get on stage, I rock out for my own satisfaction. The fact that there is a crowd is just a bonus."

Unconcerned with the troubles of the big music business, Lovett appears tirelessly enamoured with living the rock and roll lifestyle. He wants to play with the bands he loves and get drunk with his heroes. "When our idols tell us we're a great band… to me, that vindicates any decision not to have any novelty or gimmick." To The Inbreds, music isn't about selling records or playing in arenas, though. Lovett makes it clear that it's about the aesthetic that seems lost on a UK scene that is becoming "less of a priority" to the band. "Europe is much more into the style of rock and roll that we do," he says, hinting at a possible contract with a label "who aren't based in the UK."

It's a simple formula, but it works and regardless of their reluctance to keep the shows firmly focused on home crowds, they've nevertheless built up a base of support that has seen them sell out London's Mean Fiddler and earn them an upcoming stint on the road with L.A. punks, Amen.

Un-phased by this, Dean's not frightened to shout about the real priorities in The Inbreds' institution of metal. "When the band started out, it wasn't to be a huge famous band. It was to rock out, and get absolutely blind drunk in the process," he laughs, "the moderate success… it's just been incidental, if that's the right word."