The Sophs arrived out of the great blue yonder. Its rare that a demo that arrives in the post sets your heart racing and sends you off on a quest to track down its sender. But that is what happened when we listened to the music sent to us by Ethan Ramon. He described himself as an indigenous inhabitant of Los Angeles transplanted from Phoenix where his tribe had landed after its migration from further north. Ethan put together a band of Phoenix friends all now living in Los Angeles and with the addition of a Florida native on drums, The Sophs were born. At the time of the demo The Sophs had never played a gig in public. Jeannette Lee was in town with Pulp who were playing a show and The Sophs put on their first ever show for her personally. Now signed to Rough Trade they are we feel a great American band in the tradition of Bob Dylans Talkin Blues, The Strokes, Richard Hell and Weezer.

Geoff Travis: Founder and Head of Rough Trade