The Vamps - New Music - Telegraph Clean-cut British foursome The Vamps" hearty guitar-pop and youthful lyrics could make them the next big teenage music stars. This weekend they will support American pop singer Selena Gomez at two big London shows, ahead of the release their debut single, Can We Dance, which has already been viewed a million times on YouTube. The Vamps formed after the band members found one another via their respective YouTube channels. Guitarist James McVey, 19, approached singer Bradley Simpson, 18, and the pair began writing songs together. They tracked down Tristan Evans, 19, after watching the audition tape which helped him make the final of a national competition for aspiring drummers in 2010, and bassist Connor Ball, 17, joined earlier this year. As Simpson explains, "bands used to form through an advert in the NME, but now it's amazing what you can find on YouTube." The quartet have since landed a record deal with EMI and begun work on their debut album with producers in New York and LA. They've also built a devoted fan base, judging by the ecstatic reception they received during a gig at London's Westfield shopping centre last month. Who are their influences? The band grew up listening to US pop-punk bands like Blink-182, but are also fans of acoustic pop and folk artists like Ed Sheeran and Mumford & Sons. Their biggest influence is British pop band McFly, who they recently toured with: "Their debut album was a first in all of our collections," says Simpson, "they're brilliant musicians." What do they sound like? Don't be fooled by their fresh faces, tousled hair and adoring fans - The Vamps are no One Direction. They co-write all of their songs, most of which have a rockier power-pop feel than those of Harry Styles and co. Can We Dance is an honest tale of teenage awkwardness with a punchy, toe-tapping chorus, while another track, Wildheart, has a distinctive folk bent. Both are impressively anthemic for such a young band. What do they say about themselves? "[We] take pride in the fact we play our own instruments and write our own songs," says Simpson. We're not just a pop act. The Vamps play Hammersmith Apollo on September 7 and 8. Can We Dance is released on September 29