Finding the perfect name for your new band is notoriously tricky. So it was with Matchbook Romance.

"I came up with it -- but I don't know how!" explains drummer Aaron Sterne. "We were sitting around a kitchen table and got delirious."

But what does it mean? "It's when you go into a bar, see a hot girl, talk to her, and when it's time to leave you write your name and number on a matchbook, and the relationship develops."

Aaron is speaking from his home in Yorktown, in icy upstate New York, not far from Poughkeepsie, where he met his future bandmates.

"It's suburban hell," he jokes. "I used to live on an apple and Christmas tree farm, but started rocking on drums seven years ago."

The other band members were computer geeks who spent as much time online as they did playing their instruments.

"The Internet played a major part of our success," says bassist Ryan Kienle. In 1997, he and vocalist/guitarist Andrew Jordan made a name locally with their band Fizzlewink. They added a third guitarist, Ryan 'Judas' DePaolo, enlisted Aaron's talents, re-christened themselves The Getaway, and came up with their trademark part-sung, part-screamed marriage of pop melodies and pulsing rock rhythms.

With just six tunes, the band created a website and built up an impressive mailing list by networking with other unsigned US bands.

That, and relentless gigging, paid off when the top man at Epitaph Records, Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz, read an enthusiastic website posting by a fan, downloaded the band's track Ex Marks The Spot, and emailed Jordan to express his interest.

Their debut Stories and Alibis is powerful, melodic and sincere. But how does Aaron sum it up? "I would say emotional rock."

Saturday, January 31, the band play the Zodiac, and an army of loyal fans is expected -- something Aaron still finds impressive. "We had fans there last time and thought 'what is going on!'

"We had only been there once on vacation and people knew us!"

Tickets are £7 in advance/ £8 on the door. Call 01865 420042.