Beginning with a trio of upbeat tunes sets the album off nicely; these include the title track and the lead single, California Gurls, the latter being a certain highlight of the record.  The song, which features Snoop Dogg, is delightfully catchy and bouncy and has a wonderfully weird video to go with it. Definitely a video for the boys to enjoy, although this is by no means a bad thing! Another highlight follows, in the form of soon-to-be-released single, Fireworks. Again, a solid song, and one containing an almost Coldplay-esque chorus. The important factor here being that, unlike Coldplay, this isn’t ridiculously dreary and sleep-inducing.

Unfortunately the quality of the album deteriorates towards the end – the fantastic Circle the Drain and Hummingbird Heartbeat being the last truly memorable songs. The former has Perry delivering a scathing performance, even bringing out the f-word, and it provides a welcome trip back down to Earth from the fluffy clouds the rest of the album most likely has you sitting on.

Overall a reasonable effort; had the quality been maintained throughout the album it could have been something special, however we’re left with a slightly-above-average, fun, girly pop record. Luckily, when it comes to being fun and girly, Katy Perry certainly knows what she’s doing.­

1. How did you guys all meet?

Bassist Jamie met Dave when they gigged together in seperate bands. Same for Zak who replaced the old drummer due to religious differences. Kieran and Jamie were at the same Uni doing the same course and yet, never met each other until they joined the band in September 2008 after an intensive audition process.

2. How would you describe your sound?

Completely Unique, Kerrang called it the most interesting sound performed on the RBBJ stage at Sonisphere this year, I cant really put one genre on us, we’re rock/rap/rave/trance/DnB/metal/hiphop!

3. Who are your influences?

We take influences from a plethora of musical sources. Zak’s into his Indie and Pop, Kieran his acoustic and emo, Jamie his metal and prog and Dave his electronica and hip hop. So the list reads quite strangely, but some of the biggest artists we respect would be Periphery, Celldweller, Fightstar and… uh… Dizzee Rascal.

4. You played a few festivals this Summer. Which ones did you play and which one did you enjoy the most?

We began with Download then T in the Park, Sonisphere, Underage and Hevy. Underage was off the hook, we had the biggest crowd of our stage, quite possibly bigger than most of the bands on the larger stages! Sonisphere was also awesome, we had a stage rush for Hevy which was incredible!!

5. What is your favourite and least favourite venue to play?

Favourite would be Download and least would be The Library in Leeds!!

6. All bands have their own way of writing songs, what is yours?

Usually get the synths and beats down first then guitar/bass, adding the drums and finally lyrics

7. You have grown quite rapidly in the time that you have been playing – what would you say the reason behind the success is?

Our fans!! Every bands says it, but its true! If we didn’t have fans we wouldnt have been able to play the festivals this summer. We wouldn’t sell merch and would have no reason to write music if no-one was listening. It’s all thanks to them that we are here and growing!

8. On that point, what advice would you have to bands starting out?

Don’t gig unless you are completely confident that you know your songs inside out and back to front. A key point of interest is showing how tight you guys are and how you win over a crowd. It’s good getting them involved because at the end of the day you’re entertainers and if you start to bore your audience, you loose!!

9. Finally, what is the future for You And What Army?

Hopefully win this RBBJ competition and win free recording time and a tour with Kids In Glass Houses – thats the main target on our mind at the moment, but we always think about writing new material and scheduling gigs around the UK.

For more information on You And What Army, check the guys out on MySpace and Facebook.

PHOTO CREDIT: Emmie Sketch McKee

The track, which is set to feature on the as-yet-untitled follow-up to last year’s Attics To Eden, was the last track the band recorded with bassist Matthew Leone before he was viciously attacked.

Click here to buy it from iTunes.

“If Guns N’ Roses decide to take to stage as late as they did in Leeds [eight] years ago then the performance just won’t happen,” festival boss Melvin Benn told the BBC. “I’ve had a very heavy warning from the local councils. There is a curfew – it’s a very strict curfew.

“We got away with it once,” he adds. “We won’t get away with it for a second time. The truth is – it’s threatening the viability of the festival. It threatens the licence. It really is quite important.”

A Thousand Suns will be released on September 13.

Tracklisting is as follows:

1. ’742617000027′

2. ‘(sic)’

3. ‘Eyeless’

4. ‘Wait and Bleed’

5. ‘Get This’

6. ‘Before I Forget’

7. ‘Sulfur’

8. ‘The Blister Exists’

9. ‘Dead Memories’

10. ‘Left Behind’

11. ‘Disasterpiece’

12. ‘Vermillion’

13. ‘Everything Ends’

14. ‘Psychosocial’

15. ‘Duality’

16. ‘People=Shit’

17. ‘Surfacing’

18. ‘Spit it Out’

Also included will be ‘Audible Visions Of (sic)nesses’ – A 45 minute film directed by Shawn Crahan (Clown), that captures Slipknot on the road and behind the scenes, during the ‘All Hope Is Gone’ cycle.

There will also be a number of the band’s latest music videos included and also a making of for production of ‘Snuff’.

1. ‘Psychosocial’

2. ‘Dead Memories’

3. ‘Sulfur’

4. ‘Snuff’

Making Of:

‘Snuff’