"It's not a band it's a little orchestra."

Accordianist Mathieu Canavese is aboard the tour bus explaining the workings of Les Negresses Vertes, prior to devastating (in the best possible way) the assembled throng of graduates at a Cambridge May ball. With a mix of Algerian, Spanish and French ancestry, LNV's music is a cultural melting pot of world sounds and styles played on acoustic instruments. It's a heady, incisive brew both compulsive and danceable. They all met five years before the band properly formed, some working as fishermen, others in a circus, a few as musicians. Most, though, could not play when they began rehearsing in September '87 so most of their growing up has been done in public.

"We tried to play with electric instruments but it was not a good sound", Mathieu explains. "Acoustic instruments are really practical because you can play everywhere. We started playing in cafes and in the street. We would come and play four songs and people would go 'Aaarrggghh! Who was that?' The sound was really original because of the way we play."

It was at one of their first performances, at a ball deep in Carmargue, that the as yet unnamed were christened.

"Somebody called us Les Negresses Vertes (meaning The Green Black Women). It was an insult but we've kept it because it goes well with us. It's irony. In every song we use humour and Les Negresses Vertes is a humorous name to show how we feel about the colours problem. We are not green, not black and not even girls. It's a good name to show that the differences between sexes and between colours are too much."

Their first British release, the infectious 'Zobi La Mouche' is currently resident in the lower reaches of the charts. An exhilarating jaunt, it was given the remix treatment by William Orbit and Rico Conning, and looks set to become their anthem.

"It was the first song we composed, rehearsed and recorded together", Mathieu explains. "It's like our tribal scream to show what we are. In France the radio didn't pass it because it was too much. The lyrics are a little perverse and they didn't like that."

Recording initially presented problems in transferring the band's live energy onto tape. They rehearsed eight hours a day for two months before going into the studio but the sessions were still "really crazy". Now, however, they're justifiably pleased with the results, forming, as they do, an album entitled Mlah (It's O.K.). The closest comparison, much as I'm loathe to say it, is the Pogues (garret poet and vocalist Helno even looks like Shane McGowan), although LNV have also been likened to The Specials, The Clash and The Gypsy Kings.

"They are all good bands and good songwriters", says Mathieu, taking the comparison as a compliment. "I prefer to be compared with The Clash or The Pogues than Rick Astley. We're not really the same but we use the same method to explain things and pass energy. It's simple music, roots music with a contemporary energy. We're not thinking of the past, we're not retrospective, we're from today!

"In the music that we play we use a lot of different styles and different instruments and we are joking when we play", he continues. "We mix French culture with rock'n'roll, music from England, Edith Piaf, The Ramones and Jaques Brel.

"We are French but we are mixed blood. I'm French because I'm a bastard and our music is like that - little words from Grandparents, from Chinese and Turkish culture. French songs are always for people of thirty or forty and we tried to shake that. We try to restart where they stop but with more fun, with more 'young'."

Doesn't having so many members in the band, though, create problems?

"Sometimes, like in family life but they are very tiny compared to the good things. We try to be the best and to help each other to give the best. We share everything - money, football, food but not love. When you see it from the outside the band is very tough because we are sticking together. The people who pay to see us want some entertainment, some fresh air. We are here to provide that fresh air - in the ears, eyes, nose and mouth - everywhere."

Never a truer word was spoken. Live they are a celebratory experience, you can't fail to be moved and even my two left feet couldn't resist the urge to dance. They take songwriting seriously, although Mathieu describes it as a haphazard process.

"Sometimes in a week we can create four good songs, but other times we might have to wait three months for inspiration. The final result is the sum of the band, each member puts his part on the line and every time it's very good. The idea is to build the happiness. It's a very democratic way of creation. We love the collective results of the work. If some are working more than others it's not a problem, everybody is together to make a good show, good songs and good records. We try to be open all the time but closed in ourselves to be specifically creative for Les Negresses."

The band record each live show and carefully listen to it afterwards, with a self-critical awareness. They've been touring now for three months and after Britain, undertake a full scale European tour. Commitment is total and enthusiasm the key. As they say: "We love to work, we love to play - everywhere. The most important thing is to find good people and the chemistry between members. A real band has no leader, you have to find complementary personalities. Our aim is to keep writing good songs, that's all. If we do that the rest is automatic."

Les Negresses Vertes play the Reading Festival this month and you'd be well advised to catch them, or failing that shell out some francs on Mlah. But whatever you do, don't ignore them. I've got a sneaking feeling they're going to be massive!