Toy Horses are the next in a long line of Welsh bands to break into the mainstream with their inventive, exciting and off-beat indie gems. Their melody-fuelled, radio-ready songs are what made them an accidental success after they posted songs on Myspace last year. Tracks were picked up by Radio 1, 6 Music and gained repeated "Demo of the Week" accolades on BBC Wales as well as becoming a "Featured Band" on Myspace and XFM. Within a short space of time they were flying out to America to record their debut album with ex-Wilco member, Ken Coomer (who stumbled across their myspace page and fell in love with the songs) as well as being US radio guru Nic Harcourt's pick of SXSW. If you take in to consideration that all of this has happened without any active self-promotion on their part, you start to see a genuine Myspace phenomenon, just as we thought that its influence was waning and the glut of social networks and sheer volume of bands have made it an untrawlable minefield. The rather unconventional pairing of Adam Franklin and Tom Williams are, for all intents and purposes, step-son and step-father but certainly not in the traditional sense. Tom has been Adam's mother's partner for years and the two have forged a bond that has transcended the generation gap through a shared habit of songwriting. Their affinity for 60s sounds is evident in their melodic, playful tunes which hide the melancholy of Adam's often tragic lyrics. Having played music together for their own pleasure, the two decided to put some of their songs up on Myspace for friends and family to hear. When these started getting radio play out of the blue, they began to play gigs in Cardiff and quickly built up a loyal local following. At this point Toy Horses were playing as a duo and didn't have a backing band despite the full sound of their home demos. As multi-instrumentalists, part of their charm is Tom's use of the rather extraordinary looking electric ukulele, as they switch between a variety of guitars and keyboards, with duelling vocals and gorgeous harmonies. Yet it is the strength of the songwriting that draws people in - usually a total collaboration between Adam and Tom, the sound is reminiscent of British bands from the 60s but updated with a modern edge to become very accessible, hugely enjoyable and highly memorable. From sad ballads like 'Last Chance' to raw indie rock like 'No One's Ever Gonna Leave You', they mix quirkiness with a keen pop sensibility. It was the strength of the songs that caused Wilco's Ken Coomer (subject of the fascinating documentary I'm Not Trying to Break Your Heart and now a record producer in Nashville) to contact them with an offer to record the album. They flew to the States and, oddly, the home of country music, to be joined in the studio by Ken and Jim Bogois (Counting Crows, Sheryl Crow) on drums and Tim Marks on bass (who has played with Taylor Swift and just about every major country artist you can name), thus taking their very British sound to another level entirely. On the fast track to breaking the States before their first single had been recorded, the band went on to play SXSW and were booked at the showcase by one of the most influential figures in American music, Nic Harcourt (who helped launch the US careers of the likes of Coldplay). They went on to be his pick of the festival on Steve Lamacq's show and were invited to do a live session in LA on his own KCRW radio show (the ultimate 'tastemaker' show in America) where their track 'Last Chance' had been picked four weeks in a row. For a band who haven't yet done the toilet gig circuit, the fact that they've already played the legendary LA venue Spaceland with Wilco's drummer and Frank Black's bass player is no mean feat. Now, Toy Horses are to expand their live shows with a permanent full band and many more gigs up and down the UK in 2010. They've leapfrogged several stages in a band's metamorphosis to become one of the most hotly-tipped bands of the next decade. So now, with a breathtaking debut album on the horizon to be released on their own label, Albino Sparrow Records, and an invitation to return to SXSW in 2010, things seem to be progressing rapidly for Toy Horses. From waiting to see if things happen to actively making things happen, the sky is the limit for this exciting and talented Welsh band.