Perhaps no UK act is more worthy of such recognition than Brixton duo Basement Jaxx, the punk, dance, rock, samba, soul pioneers — see what I mean?

Those same sentiments are echoed by one half of the duo Simon Ratcliffe — who believes the Jaxx have consciously avoided following the in-crowd.

“We’ve never attached ourselves to any one scene so I suppose it’s become hard for people to put any kind of label on us,” he says.

They may be filed under “dance” in your local music store or iTunes playlist, but there is a world of difference separating what this pair put out from your mass marketed throbbing beats.

Their latest album Crazy Itch Radio embodies a return to their early beginnings, when they burst onto the mainstream with legendary single Remedy in 1999. “This record feels like what we do best,” Simon says.

“It’s soulful, soothing and warm and it’s a got a beauty to it which Remedy and our early EPs had.”

Swerving from all-out operatic action with a choir singing Verdi’s requiem as an intro, Crazy Itch Radio takes you on a musical mystery tour that dips in and out of a number of styles including some Balkan folk beats.

Simon’s other creative half Felix Buxton describes their latest offering as “the crazy colourful itch of life”.

That itch has seen them tour Europe in the past month as support to one Robbie Williams and his super-sized stadium tour.

“It’s been good because you’re throwing yourself in at the deep end,” Simon explains.

“We’ve played to some totally different crowds and you’re finished by 9 o’clock.”

But playing a supporting role isn’t really worthy of their status and come December they will return to the UK for a series of headlining arena shows, where fans can expect a pre-Xmas party to remember.

Felix says, “Doing Glastonbury was the highlight of my career so far. It was a real landmark for us.

“It made us both realise that we’d cracked the live thing so the tour’s going to be even better.”

With Glastonbury’s famed headlining show as a replacement for Kylie boasting more than 50 Samba girls on stage Grapevine will see you down the front enjoying a “Crazy Itch” when Basement Jaxx visit the SECC on December 8.

n Crazy Itch Radio is available now.

Beneath perfectly manicured nails and polka dot dresses beats the heart of three gorgeous girls ready to inject a touch of feminine glamour into a music scene they believe is bordering on homoerotic.

Taking on the might of all things Johnny Borrell and Alex Turner; RiotBecki, Gwenno and Rosay hark back to the halcyon days of The Ronettes, The Shangri-Las and The Crystals.

Suicide blonde Gwenno, possibly the most vocal Pipette, wears her passion for pop on her sleeve.

“It just feels like pop has become this dirty word, which is utter nonsense because the first song you will buy is a pop song,” she says.

“That’s what you will save up for and send your mum down the shops for!”

A more restrained RiotBecki interrupts, “Everyone seems to be too scared of being too happy and worry if it misrepresents them because they’re not real enough. We want our music to make people let themselves go and just smile and have fun.”

But don’t let their love of plastic pop fool you, the Pipettes are no fluffy novelty act, they’re beautiful girls with ’60s style pop songs that deal with everything from sex pest boyfriends to one night stands.

And unlike the shower of manufactured pop bands we’ve been plagued with in recent years, the Pipettes are real musicians and songwriters, albeit they choose to tour with an assembled cast of cardigan-wearing male musicians.

It leaves the girls to pursue a ramshackle live show featuring the streetcorner finger-flick and ’60s rallentandos.

Gwenno explains, “We’ve made the choice not to play instruments live because we just feel like the songs need to be expressed with the moves and interaction with the crowd.

“If we were to stand there playing a guitar it wouldn’t help us to achieve that. We’re not into this kind of “real music man, real people”. It is complete nonsense. We wanted to be a pop outfit and we’re unashamedly that.”

Catch The Pipettes live and you’ll soon see they live up to their promise. They might not be everybody’s favourite band, but catch them live and you can be sure of some spellbinding entertainment, and of course fun!

The Pipettes’ UK tour visits the Glasgow Garage on September 26. Their debut album We Are The Pipettes is on sale now.