‘BEWARE the martyrs we make.”

I’m talking to Larry Love, the laid-back frontman of Alabama 3 about BNP leader Nick Griffin’s appearance on Question Time the previous night and he echoes the same concerns being expressed across the UK media.

But you don’t ever see Nick and Larry ever trying to iron out any political or social differences over a glass of claret, at least not in this lifetime.

After all, it’s unlikely you’ll see links to Amnesty International, The Miscarriages Of Justice Organisation or the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign on the BNP website, but it’s their defiance of what might constitute ‘the norm’ that makes Alabama 3 such an exciting habit to form.

Larry – aka Rob Spragg – met fellow vocalist The Very Reverend Dr D. Wayne Love – aka Jake Black – at an acid house party in Peckham.

It was an appropriate night out for what was to become a collective of rock renegades who dubbed their own sound country acid house music, albeit with liberal doses of techno, blues and punk thrown in.

Their 1997 debut album Exile On Coldharbour Lane revealed an ability to write and perform splendidly individual songs – witness Ain’t Going’ To Goa and Woke Up This Morning, eventually adopted as theme song to The Sopranos.

Ten years and a mixed bag of albums later, the most recent offering M.O.R was as eclectic a mix of musical styles as you could imagine and proof that the band could still create magic it in the studio.

But it’s live where Alabama 3 really cut loose, creating a glorious noise and while they cultivate a hard-drinking, zapped-out alt-rockers’ world-weariness, this is a truly solid and honed outfit.

They’re a scary-looking bunch too, excepting the diminutive, lovely and pregnant Devlin Love, whose place on tour will be taken by Aurora Dawn.

“I reckon the worse a band looks, the better the music,” laughs Larry, whose deep, growly vocals are a signature element to the band’s sound.

Next Saturday, the band makes its third visit to the O2 Academy at Boscombe in as many years as part of an 18-date nationwide tour.

Fans will also get the chance to pick up a special ‘greatest hits remix album’ The 12 Step Plan – with tracks chosen by the fans themselves – ahead of the band’s next studio offering Revolver Soul in March.

And it’s no surprise that the band’s links with previous record labels Geffen and Sony have ended in favour of going it alone.

“They just struggled to categorise us. They just couldn’t find our demographic, but we’re just so wide-ranging in our musical styles that they couldn’t work us out at all. We can’t be pigonholed.

“The thing is that we’re still standing and doing our thing and a lot of bands fall along the wayside. Which isn’t bad for a country and western Marx-ist combo from Brixton with American accents.”

Larry also maintains that Revolver Soul has a “more urban” feel and contributors include the likes of Razorlight’s Johnny Borrell, Orbital and The Pogues’ Shane Macgowan.

Larry’s also looking forward to life back on the road, where he accepts that the band certainly lives up to its reputation.

“We do what it says on the tin,” says Larry, admitting that one tour bus driver believed that only the legendary Pogues could match Alabama 3’s after-show capabilities.

n Supporting Alabama 3 on the tour are South London-based Krakatoa, said to be a foot-tapping cross between The Clash and Blur. Get there early to find out if it’s true.