Early shows comprised theatrical affairs, featuring bubble machines, Victorian uniforms, sword fights and flowers,[1] The band gained a cult following and attracted reviews in NME[2] as well as invitations to play at venues including KOKO in Camden,[3] and O2 Wireless festival[3] in Hyde Park, London.

Their next single "Devil in the Detail" and the album Thunderer & Excelsior were released on the same day in August 2008, launched at an in-store performance as part of the Rough Trade East record shop 1st Year anniversary.

In July 2010, the band emerged with a live BBC 6 Music radio session to promote their second album Railway Architecture, a track from which appeared on that month's Artrocker magazine 'The Sounds of the Summer' covermount CD'.

Eighth single "Two Halves of the Same Boy" released on Valentine's Day 2011 was playlisted on BBC 6 Music for five weeks at the start of the year as the band made a return to London's Koko venue for Club NME.

An interview on BBC Radio 1 on 4 August 2008[11] suggested that musically, the cult British band Cardiacs are an influence, as are Swindon's XTC, the more glam rock moments of Queen and David Bowie, as much as the Victorian science fiction of H. G. Wells, and magazines such as Fortean Times and a childhood obsession with obsolete diesel locomotives.