For a band who’ve just spent the best part of twenty hours travelling just to get from London to Dublin, Vex Red are commendably chipper. But then again, why not – last night they played what they reckon was one of the best shows of their career with Alien Ant Farm in Brixton, and now they’ve just completed their Irish debut in front of several thousand hugely appreciative Staind fans. Not bad for a band that two years ago were on the verge of chucking it all in; broke, disheartened and disillusioned.

Salvation came in the unlikely form of producer Ross Robinson who, having put out an ad for British bands to send him demos, rang the home of guitarist Ant Forbes to say that he liked what he heard, Ant explains sheepishly). One brief recording session later and the five piece decamped to LA, where they hung out with Slipknot, signed to Robinson’s label and set to work on an album.

The result is Start With A Strong And Persistent Desire, the most astonishing, cutting edge rock record to emerge this year. Vex Red are certainly not another wannabe American British rock band. “A guy last night called us the Spiritualized of nu-metal”, says other guitarist Nick Goulding. Vocalist and, yes, guitarist, Terry Abbott meanwhile, sees them as simply part of a scene that is open to all sorts of music. “To assume that just because someone is wearing a Slipknot hoodie they don’t listen to anything else is rubbish. I bet half of them love the Prodigy or the Chemical Brothers, as we do”.

Justifiably proud of their debut (“it’s one of my favourite albums”, says Terry, “not out of vanity, it just gets me going”), the band are quietly excited about the future. Already shockingly adept at handling venues such as the Point – “some bands suit small clubs, but I think we work better on bigger stages” says bassist Keith Lambert – their next move will be to move to the US for a few months. Don’t be surprised if, by the time they pass through this way again, it’s the name Vex Red that’ll be calling the shots.