MEMBERS of Indie band Starsailor have hit back at critics who claimed the group's debut album would not live up to its hype.

Shy frontman and songsmith James Walsh slammed the few dissesenting voices and pointed to the album's successful chart entry at number two last Sunday.

He said criticism aimed at the group was typical of the British way.

"We have taken a bit of flak from people who like to build you up and then knock you down," he told the BEN.

"People adopt this attitude of being 'Indier than thou'. They only like to listen to music which is heard by a few hundred people and when it becomes more popular they have to criticise it."

In the last 12 months, Starsailor's pop career has gone from strength to strength.

The band has toured extensively, notched up its first Top 10 hit, Alcoholic, and released the much anticipated debut album, Love Is Here.

Starsailor has become the most talked about home grown band of the year and has even made a minor celeb of headteacher Tony Walsh, James' father.

Walsh senior managed to keep the group a secret from pupils at Joseph Eastham High School, in Little Hulton.

But he said: "James is living every dad's dream. I wanted to be a rock star and ended up being a headteacher."

Despite family support, the last year has proved to be a steep learning curve with the group under pressure to make sure the debut album lived up to expectations.

Walsh, aged 21, said: "I'm a natural born worrier and now I have something to worry about on a pretty huge scale. I think I've become more introverted and sensitive about it all than when we first started out. But it's probably not as bad as I make out."

As well as Walsh, from Chorley, Starsailor is made up of bass player James Stelfox, drummer Ben Byrne and keyboard player Barry Westhead.

Walsh's interest in music was first fuelled by raiding his older brother's record collection and listening to Oasis, Blur and The Charlatans. He started playing the piano at the age of 12 and even joined the school choir.

He said: "We never expected it to happen so quickly, but we still try and appreciate the position we have been put in and maintain the desire to be better in the future.

"We were able to cut ourselves off to a certain extent making the album but we were conscious of the fact that it had to be released. We knew a lot was expected of it so we had that pressure to deliver, but we also wanted to make sure it was as good as it could be and not just rush something out."

The group took their name from a Tim Buckley album, while Buckley's son Jeff played a part in shaping the sound of the group.

Starsailor played the first gig in London in April 2000. When the band returned in early July, a few days after Glastonbury, record companies were already showing an interest.

That night the gig was seen by a passing NME journalist, who wrote a glowing review in the following week's paper. Within three months, the band had signed to EMI.

Walsh said: "People always used to tell me to get a proper job," says Walsh.

"But even when Starsailor didn't sound too good, I always knew singing was what I did best. I didn't see why I should do something that I couldn't do as well."

Starsailor will be playing a concert at the Manchester Academy on November 2.