The Guardian described them as “McFly before puberty” and their music is not dissimilar to Green Day and Blink 182. They are called Koopa and around two weeks ago, this young British trio scored an important “goal” when they became the first unsigned band to have a Top 40 hit following the new rules regarding official MP3 downloads in the compilation of the British pop chart. In fact, Koopa’s single, Blag, Steal & Borrow, entered the British charts at number 31 on the strength of download sales alone. The event isn’t just an incentive to all aspiring musicians, but a strong caution to major labels that corporate trend-setting has once again met its match. Just as punk rock had changed the face of popular music over three decades ago, the internet has brought about a new revolution, consolidating the DIY punk ethic that successfully brought the sound of the streets to the mainstream, and signalling an (hopefully) to the fabricated pop onslaught that has been seeping in recent times!



Only weeks from their remarkable achievement, No Sweat Productions are flying Koopa out to Malta to launch their debut album on the island, and to mark the occasion they will perform twice over the coming weekend. On Saturday 3 February, they will rock Luxol in St. Andrews with the help of local DIY scoundrels Xtruppaw, while on Sunday 4 February, they will perform with BNI at Rookies in Bugibba. Koopa is Ollie Cooper, Stu Cooper and Joe Murphy. For more information, visit www.koopatheband.com or www.myspace.com/koopa.