Stourbridge band Ameoba Teen in US deal

The band have been together on and off for two decades, and their brand of alt-country power pop has started turning heads across the Atlantic, with the New Jersey-based Kool Kat Music signing them up to distribute their product Stateside.

"They specialise in that alt country and power pop sound, which are two genres which mesh nicely with the band," said frontman Mark Britton. "It's not so popular over here but it's big in the US."

And rather than do all the chasing themselves, it was the US label that initiated the deal. Amoeba Teen were headhunted.

"They came to us," Mark confirms. "We sent our CD to the American blog Powerpopaholic and they gave us a favourable review. So Kool Kat contacted us. It's fantastic news, because we enjoy what we do and now more people will be able to hear it.

"We get to play the International Pop Overthrow Festival for a second time this weekend in Liverpool. It's in the Cavern Club, so as a very big Beatles fan it's pretty special to play there. It fits nicely with what we do and who we are."

Rhythm guitarist and vocalist Mark, who for his day job works in marketing for an IT company, formed the band 20 years ago with his lead guitarist friend Mike Turner. Drummer Carl Bayliss has been with them for 12 years, while for the past few years, former (X) Is Greater Than (Y) bassist Simon Muttitt has completed the line-up. All four are Stourbridge boys.

They see their recent period as a bit of a renaissance for Amoeba Teen, with the US deal coming at the same time as a 'brilliant day' playing for 3,000 Albion supporters at the Hawthorns fan zone ahead of their 2-2 draw with Liverpool on April 21.

"We've all been at that age where we had kids and obviously that took up a lot of our time," says Mark. "Now they're all at school age we're getting some free time back. We've turned our attention back to the band and I think we are writing the best music we ever have.

"I guess you could call us late bloomers," he laughs. "We've had that pause and now we are returning. I guess we are taking it more seriously and want to do it well."

After the festival slot in Liverpool this weekend, Amoeba Teen have a joint headline show with The Long Goodbye at Claptrap on the town's High Street on June 21 after the original show was snowed off in March. Then it's time to focus on the American invasion.

"We'll see how the album goes down. It's currently being manufactured in Nashville, and we have been lucky to have Dawn Eden [author and journalist for Mojo and Rolling Stone, among others] write our album line notes. If it goes down well then early next year we might go over."

The American release will be a double album encompassing their two LPs to date plus a couple of B sides and bonus tracks. One of those two records, Selection Box Vol. 1, is available for free on their website for fans to download. Updates are also available on their Twitter @AmoebaTeen.

"We are also planning a new album for later this year to be released in the UK," adds Mark. Meaning life for this Amoeba might be about to radically shift once more.