"Liquid LSD, man, tell the kids not to do it!"

Alabama 3 singer Larry Love has credited Joe Strummer with saving the band's upcoming Irish tour.

"There I was staring certain lung and liver failure in the face when my guardian punk angel plucked me from the Glastonbury mud and took me into his tent," says the acid country house Ollie Reed. "No, we were the first band on this year and spent the rest of our time – and money! – doing the devil's work. Which included three days of partying with Joe and Keith Allen who saw the pitiful state myself and Orlando (A3 keyboard-player) were in and looked after us."

As result of this hedonism, Alabama 3 have issued a public health warning: "Liquid LSD, man, tell the kids not to do it!"

Strummer isn't the only former Clash man that the Bammies have been fraternising with.

"Mick Jones has done a remix of this track called 'Missing In Action' and a film as well," Larry continues. "We're also on the new 808 State album and did a tune at the end of last year with Orbital."

The band's non-collaborative efforts include an album, Power In The Blood, which is nearing completion in a South London studio.

"This is the best record we've done in terms of all 8 people collaborating on it. It's a combination of Exile On Coldharbour Lane's madness and La Peste's better production."

What are a couple of the tracks we should be looking out for?

"There's one called 'Woody Guthrie' which is relating his dust-bowl epics to the situation of the asylum seekers; 'I've Got Two Heads (Gonna Bang My Heads Together)' which is a good little gospel number; and 'Rehab' which is typical Alabama 3 down in the gutter blues."

You can hear these classics-in-the-making when the Alabama 3 play the West Belfast Festival (August 4) and The Red Box, Dublin (5).