SOMETIMES, like your favourite blanket as a child, people grow out of things. It's natural, it happens all the time, but rarely is it ever with such a dislike that The Bluetones wrenched themselves from their old record contract.
With a new single, album and ridiculously long tour all planned for over the next few months though the group are looking up.
They have suffered terribly from the strains but are now heading back on the road and with the battle scars to show what's happened.
Mark Morriss, the singer, is an incredibly happy chap talking about football, (an avid Liverpool fan) and a mutual friend. His tone changes though when the conversation reaches their former record company Mercury.
"We're out of the whole Mercury contract and doing it on our own and it feels great.
"The day the lawyers phoned up sticks in my mind because it was August 20 and a lovely day outside. When they said we were out it was just like this weight lifts off you, you know.
"They had wanted us to release a Best Of which is not something that we wanted to do at all. We wrote some new songs for it and we were going to put some singles out as well with new B sides. We just didn't think it was fair on the fans, they aren't going to want the old songs they want the new stuff.
"As it tuned out in the end the label just kind of forgot about it and put it out there after a while.
"It's always the same with new management. They always want to show that the guy before was wrong so we kind of got forgotten about."
Once talk of contracts is out of the way, Mark's mood instantly brightens and talk moves towards the bands future, namely a rather cryptically named LP.
"The new album is called Luxembourg. It's a great word for one thing but there are plenty of reasons why. Luxembourg is just a really cool place and small as well which is good," Mark says.
"You're always going to say that this is the best thing that you have ever done with each album that comes out. But if you listen to the new stuff there is just a sense of relief to it.
"We were really happy when we recorded the album and it shows through. We just didn't have any of the constraints that we had when we made the other albums. We could do exactly what we wanted to do.
"It's the most fun that we have had making an album."
But what of the new tour which seems to include every place ever ventured by man?
"I'm looking forward to a tour at the moment but that may change when we actually get on the road.
"It's massive so then we could go out there and have a great time or go completely crazy.
"But we really need to get out there and see the fans again. It's been a while so we want to show that we are back doing exactly what we love.
"It's going to be a mixture of the old and new stuff live, you have to give them what they want after all.
"We are just going to go out there and play to as many people as we can. Out there we can enjoy what we love doing to as many people as possible."
The band's fanbase is very strong - with a crack group of the dedicated few who follow them everywhere. But with so many dates they will be racking up the miles.
"We have a very dedicated following and that's always helped us.
"They have been there through everything so the least we can do is put out a great album and a gig they are going to remember."
The group have always done their own thing rather than follow trends when they first arrived to acclaim with Bluetonic in the mid-90s they didn't really fit into Britpop and now they certainly don't fit in with the new wave of rock.
This is all irrelevant however to the fans who live for the group.
"We came about from the Britpop thing but we were never really a part of that at all. That's why I think we have lasted this long.
"People put us in that hole when we started out because that was what was going on at the time.
"But now when you look back we had absolutely nothing to do with that and we don't have anything to do with any of the other scene now.
"I mean I like the Strokes, Last Night is just an amazing song, but we aren't going to be putting on any leather jackets or anything like that."
* The single Fast Boy/Liquid Lips is out April 21 and the band play Liverpool University on March 22.
