PEDALLERS of cabin boy chic and posthumous poetry, British Sea Power head home for a low-key date in the Lake District.

Tickets for the 200-capacity date at Grasmere Village Hall next month may have been snapped up within hours of going on sale but OTR has managed to get its mitts on a pair of the coveted items.

Readers can get their hands on the tickets by scribbling the name of the band's first album on a postcard and sending it to OTR (see below for details).

The warm-up date precedes the band's April tour and the release of their second album Open Season on April 4, and will see gig-goers treated to early airings of BSP's latest material.

Speaking to OTR, bassist Hamilton (Neil Wilkinson) said the band were looking forward to the February 12 date. "We just wanted to go back to the Lakes. We'd already played the John Boste and we wanted something right in the heart of the Lake District so we ended up in Grasmere Village Hall. It might be more fun out there."

The South Lakeland five-piece will also be road-testing tracks from their forthcoming album during the Lake District date and no doubt hoping it lives up to the praise and superlatives heaped upon its predecessor The Decline of British Sea Power.

According to Hamilton the forthcoming album, which was mainly recorded by Mads Bjerke of Girls Aloud and Primal Scream fame and mixed by Bill Price (Sex Pistols, The Clash, Sparks), lends itself to an altogether softer sound.

"The new album is probably a bit more poppy'," Hamilton adds, before he retracts, "Well at least one or two songs are. You could probably say it's not so weird as the last album. It'll probably appeal to more people, not just weirdos."

While BSP guitarist Noble observes: "It is different to the first album. We reckon you could play this album all the way through without falling off your bike."

British Sea Power release their first single It Ended On An Oily Stage taken from the new album Open Season on March 21.

To WIN a ticket to BSP's Grasmere gig you have to answer the following question: What is the name of British Sea Power's debut album?

Answers on a postcard to: OTR/ BSP competition, Wainwrights Yard, Kendal, Cumbria, LA9 4BP. Entries must be received by February 4. The winner will be announced in our February 11 edition. Please note:

Employees of Newsquest (Kendal) Ltd and their families are not eligible to enter.

There is no cash alternative to the prize.

The editor's decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.

Winners must agree to participate in any publicity connected with this promotion.