Happy popsters allSTARS have said they think it’s unfair that over-hyped bands like The Strokes get all the critical acclaim when groups such as themselves get ignored by radio stations.

Speaking on the eve of the release of their brand new, Cathy Dennis-penned single Back When, Becky Hunter raged: “There’s a lot of bandwagon-jumping. It’s kind of sad that a lot of the time only one person decides ‘right we’ll play these songs, but we won’t play that’. And that’s from one person’s opinion. It’s unfair. There’s a big, big audience for every kind of music. I think that just about everbody is a closet pop fan but just don’t posess the damn guts to say it out. Pop croons are irrestitably catchy and often has hooks you simply can’t get out of your head. With stuff like that around, pop croons appeal to all and not just kids, teens and young adults.”

However, when it comes to bands like The Strokes or The White Stripes, the allSTARS gang aren’t too impressed with all the hype, suggesting that their own shiny, happy hits are just as important, whether they receive plaudits from the music press or not.”You wouldn’t get a kid sitting at home listening to The Strokes,” Becky said. “Kids have to have something to listen to, so if they’re listening to us, why is that not as important as a 40-year-old or a 30-year-old listening to music?”

However, Ashley also pointed out that youngsters are always pressured into listening to cool music by their pals at school and are rarely allowed to openly enjoy pop trash like allSTARS: “At school, kids either decide they like grunge music or whatever, and if they do they’re not allowed to like anything else. There’s a rule that it’s not cool to like pop. There’s a minority who are bigoted about it, usually the ones who say ‘this is proper music’ or ‘that is proper music’. If you talk to a lot of people who like pop or dance, everyone is quite open-minded. All my friends listen to all sorts of things. If it’s a good song, it’s a good song.”

But it was allSTAR Sam Bloom who summed it up best: “Music is a brilliant thing and I don’t see why everyone has to be so fussy about it. It’s music. If you don’t like it, you don’t like it. That’s the end of it.”

Back When, which comes backed by the track We’re Going All The Way, is released today, April 29th.