They might have recorded their debut album in Bedford but then making top tunes in the sleepy shires hasn’t done rushonrock faves the Quireboys any harm in recent years.

And talking of Spike and co, new punk rock noiseniks The Smoking Hearts have gone and used Quireboys’ producer Nick Mailing to give their March 8 album – Pride Of Nowhere – a shiny new sound.

Armed with a record rumoured to be rather good, vocalist Lethal (!) and his pals hit the road throughout next month after a couple of warm-up dates at the back end of February. There’s also the chance to grab a free download by clicking through the following link:

www.tinyurl.com/smokingheartsdl

And if you like that then why not check out The Smoking Hearts at any one of the following high octane dates. But with their debut album checking in at less than half an hour these gigs could be as short as they are sweet:

Feb:

13th – Peter Parkers Rock N Roll Club      Denmark Street, London

23rd – Clwb Ifor Bach                                      Cardiff

27th – The Nags Head                                     High Wycombe

March:

4th – Red Lion                                                    Stevenage

6th – Man On The Moon                               Cambridge

8th – South Of The Border                            Old Street, London (ALBUM RELEASE SHOW)

11th – Upstairs at The Garage                     Highbury, London

12th – The Marquee                                        Norwich

13th – Club Revolution                                   Peterborough

14th – The Central                                            Nottingham

15th – The Freebutt                                         Brighton

19th – Goblets                                                   Southampton

26th – Esquires                                                  Bedford

April:

1st – The Hat Factory                                       Luton

3rd – Club 85                                                       Hitchin