The Epstein are different. They know it. and, what's more, they are proud of it.

While gig-goers are bombarded by wave after wave of sound-alike guitar bands full of skinny lads in tight black jeans, this Oxford-based band represent a total alternative.

Cool yet rural, nostalgic while original, they are by turns ethereal and frantic, pulling together the twangy grandeur of American Country with the hillbilly rhythms of bluegrass and the harmonies and foot-stomping energy of English folk.

Superb, technically brilliant musicians, they have succeeded in crafting a body of material which is evocative, intelligent and compulsively listenable, with the power to transport the listener to a place of huge skies and endless horizons. And while utterly fresh, their songs have that rare quality of sounding like they have always been with us.

If they were a vehicle, they would be a vintage combine harvester, driven at breakneck speed through the Blue Ridge Mountains by a guitar-plucking yokel with an amphetamine problem, a cowboy hat, and a tankard full of absinthe.

One of Oxford's favourite bands, they attract a loyal following wherever they pitch up - and in the past year that has included everywhere from the city's historic Holywell Music Room to Glastonbury - and, bizarrely, the Great British Cheese Festival.

Now, after years of waiting, bandmates Olly Wills, Jon Berry, Rowland Prytherch, Stef Hamilton and Mark Wheeler have done the decent thing and released an album - Last of the Charanguistas - which they are launching with a debut at the city's Carling Academy tomorrow.

"It should be a great night," says singer and guitarist Olly, who lives near the Thames in Binsey. "We really want to give the album a long-awaited launch - and send it off into the atmosphere.

Saturday's gig will see them appear with Oxford's Gaelic-tinged rising stars Stornoway - a prospect which is evidently as appealing to the band as it is to gig-goers. "I'm really looking forward to seeing Stornoway," says Jon.

"I last saw them at Truck, and they were amazing. They are steadily becoming one of my favourite bands.

"It's going to be an unbelievable show. And, yes, we will be bringing out the trumpets!"

The Epstein play the Oxford Zodiac at the Carling Academy on Saturday, with support from Stornoway and Liz Green.

Doors open at 7pm. Tickets are £5 Last of the Charanguistas is out on Saturday.