Posted: Saturday 30th August 2008

The Revelations: the most visionary and credible girl group on the planet. Discuss...

Let's start with visionary. March 2008, Duffy invoked the sound of Muscle Shoals on her debut set Rockferry. October 2006, Amy Winehouse hit the mainstream with her retro classic Back To Black - three months after We Are The Pipettes from the eponymous polka dot popsters. But it was August 2005 that the movement arguably was born when the tastemakers at Fierce Panda put out a limited edition 7" single by The Revelations.

Critical acclaim for the debut single was quickly followed by airplay courtesy of Steve Lamacq on Radio 1 and 6 Music, and then Radio 2 which A-listed follow-up single If I Called You On The Telephone, along with over 20 UK regional stations. Meanwhile, the video enjoyed rotation on VH1, TMF & Q TV.

Shortly afterwards, The Revelations became the first signing to the new UK division of the world's largest talent agency William Morris Agency, also home to Prince, Amy Winehouse and Gnarls Barkley, and performed at last year's Wireless Festival in Hyde Park.

2007 also saw the girls appear as guests of Tim Lovejoy on Soccer AM and perform on Channel 4's The Tube, following the release of another single, Baby, I Want You To Know, which made the Radio 2 B-list during the summer. The station then made history by making The Revelations self-titled debut album the first ever Radio 2 Album Of The Week by an unsigned act.

So how credible are The Revelations? Well how many pop acts put out their own records and align themselves with uber cool independent distributors like Artists Without A Label (AWAL)? And there's only been one pop outfit that's enjoyed the patronage of infamous indie mogul Alan McGee, who gave The Revs their first ever gig at his Death Disco club night. And talking of clubs, the girls were so impressed by Death Disco they used the same Notting Hill venue to run their own night on the first Sunday of every month attracting The Killers, Stereophonics, Suede and The La's.

Now they're back with a new ABBA-esque pop masterpiece of a single and brilliant Scooby-Doo inspired video. This time the world is ready.