Has an Australian band engendered as much interest as The Galvatrons recently have done, with nary a release to their name?

Well, yes, of course. Before them was Operator Please, before that Airbourne, then Jet and The Vines …and probably all the way back to the Easybeats (more than likely). The Galvatrons – a four-piece synth-rock band from Melbourne who claim to robots from outer space – are the latest cats batting at the hype mouse, hoping they don’t get batted back.

“That whole robot thing is quite funny,” comments frontman Johnny Galvatron. “It was a joke that we put out there and everyone jumped on it – it’s hilarious! I think it was when we played Meredith I said, ‘We’re from the future,’ and every review said that ‘They’re from the future’. It was quite ridiculous.”

Especially so when you listen to their debut EP When We Were Kids – it’s not so much from the future as it harks back to the past, with the synth sounds straight outta the New Order playbook, and the guitars screamingly Van Halen. “Damn straight!” Johnny affirms. “I love Van Halen. Liam Gallagher said rock stars should be rock stars, and be entertaining, and I guess that whole synth-driven thing is a sense of escapism for me.”

In fact, it could be argued that all the band need is a “Jump!” in their catalogue and they really could strike out as a band to transcend the hype – they’ve got the look, they’ve got the pose, but do they have the songs? On the evidence heard on When We Were Kids, the sound of the Galvatrons could be quite limiting – how on earth are they going to transcend the hype and deliver an album?

Johnny assures that there’s more moods and textures to the group than can be found on their first 3-song-2-remixes offering. “I wanted to start this soundtrack-ish band,” he says of their formation, “and I guess you could call our songs very visual – they invoke a lot of images of happy endings.”

There’s definitely something of a John Hughes vibe to the group. “I’m stoked with that!” Johnny grins.

He explains that the sound of this very young band – with not even a year to their name – will continue to develop as they plan and prep for their eventual debut album, which will see light of day in 2009.

“The first track on the album is a track called The First Starfighter, which is in homage to The Last Starfighter, and I like to give a story as opposed to a jigsaw – I like to tell a story with a song. The album is definitely going to be very cinematic.”

When We Were Kids is not, he says, an indication of what is to come for the Galvatrons. Recorded with Lindsay Gravina at Birdland Studios in Melbourne, it’s merely a beginning. How are they going to take their sound and convert it to a full-length album is something that they have to contemplate. The sound of their debut EP is quite regimented, despite being delivered with convincing chutzpah, but how to make it into a complete ‘journey’?

“I’ve been writing songs for a long time,” he says, “and I think we have a basis of really good songs. We’ve only been together for six or seven months, and we’ve got vaster songs. We wanted to do this first release to get people to notice us, but we’ve got songs for our album like S.R. 71 Blackbird that’s one track that’s pretty massive, and we’ll just create a bit of a ‘synthony’ really.”

The band will record their debut when they return from the United Kingdom, where they’ll play at a festival alongside heroes such as KISS and the Police. So why not stay over there and record their album with a big-time producer in a big-time studio to make big-time hay while the sun big-time shines? It seems that the group are happy to enjoy it, trying to avoid the weight of expectation weighing them down.

“It’s definitely pressure to live up to,” Johnny speculates.

Prior to anyone even hearing their music, the band were buzzing – message boards on the interweb were festooned with queries about the group, and they were the name on every record label’s lips. “I’ve started to feel it with my songwriting,” he admits, “because sometimes with that pressure you do second-guess yourself. But we’re not a massive band or anything yet.”

But, of course, that’s the aim. “I guess every band – or 90% of bands – would love to be a stadium band,” Johnny muses. “I think we’ve got that ‘stadium band’ sound – that triumphant, We Are the Champions vibe. I’d love to be in a band that plays to 20,000 people every night.”

The Galvatrons’ When We Were Kids EP is out now. The intergalactic adventurers have kicked off a national tour – proudly presented by FasterLouder.

Thursday 24 April – The Evelyn Hotel, Melbourne
Friday 25 April – The Carlton Hotel, Geelong
Saturday 26 April – Groovin The Moo, Maitland
Sunday 27 April – The Beach Rd Hotel, Bondi, Sydney
Wednesday 30 April – The Park Hotel, Bathurst
Thursday 1 May – Transit Bar, Canberra, ACT
Friday 2 May – Oxford Art Factory, Sydney
Saturday 3 May – The Mona Vale Hotel, Mona Vale, Sydney
Sunday 4 May – Chili Lounge, The Grand Hotel, Wyong
Friday 9 May – Empire Hotel, Brisbane
Saturday 10 May – The Elsewhere Bar, Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast
Thursday 15 May – The Karova Lounge, Ballarat
Friday 16 May – Rocket Bar, Adelaide
Saturday 17 May – Enigma Bar, Adelaide
Thursday 22 May – Prince Of Wales, Bunbury
Friday 23 May – The Railway Hotel, Fremantle
Saturday 24 May – Shape, Perth
Thursday 29 May – Repubic Bar, Hobart
Friday 30 May – Sirocco’s, Bernie
Saturday 31 May – Batman Faulkner, Launceston
Friday 6 June – The Espy, Gershwin Room
Saturday 7 June – Come Together Festival, Luna Park, Sydney