Last time such excitement surrounded a new British guitar band it was a decade earlier, as Britpop hit overdrive with the release of ' 1994 debut.

When hit the streets in January 2006, it sold a gob-smacking 118,501 copies within its first week of release, which not only made it the fastest-selling debut ever, but it sold more than the rest of the Top 20 combined - a remarkable achievement by any measure. In effect, the group performed a complete run around the industry, avoiding conventional routes toward stardom, which paid off in spades.

Those demos built the band a rabid fan base before had released a record, even before they played more than a handful of gigs. Within the course of a year, the band rose from the ranks of an Internet phenomenon to the biggest band in the U.K., all on the strength of early demos circulated on the Web as MP3s.

Breathless, hyperbolic praise was piled upon and their debut album, an instant phenomenon without peer.