Monday nights at the Horns are, on the odd occasion, sparsely populated affairs, with some absolutely belting acts playing to near empty houses.

Imagine my surprise, then, when this week the place was so jam-packed I could hardly reach the bar. The reason: The Involved – a superb locally based four piece who, as luck would have it, sit proudly atop July’s Watford Observer music charts.

“They’re the best band you’ve never heard of” protested one of a number of young female devotees as I elbowed my way through the impressive throng at ever popular Hempstead Road venue.

“There ***king awesome,” bellowed another. I’ve got to say that I’m tempted to agree.

When playing the live the lads (apart from being very loud) have that little something extra; their seething, emotive brand of indie rock enough to leave (and I promise I’m not exaggerating here) a baying mob hollering for more.

So why were the Involved, an act kicking around for more than two years, playing only their second gig in their home town?

“I’ve really got no idea,” explains front-man Robin, at 31 a singer who’s more than found his comfort zone on stage.

“We’ve probably been a bit lazy if I’m being honest. We’ve just always played in London. We were persuaded to do a gig at the Amber Rooms recently where Pete [Curtis] saw us and told us we had to play at the Horns. It’s hard to believe we’d never done it before.

“It was a great night – with loads of people we’d never seen before. That’s always nice to see so we’ll definitely be back.”

But who are the Involved?

“We’re no spring chickens so we’ve all been in bands before. That’s no bad thing because we all know what we’re trying to achieve.

“We’re not desperate to get signed or anything like that. We’re just desperate to write some really good songs and play some great gigs.

“We’re big on lyrics as a band. We want everything we write to really mean something. It’s not quite enough for us just to have a great tune.”

So what about Drain – the track currently sitting on top of our charts?

“It’s one of our favourite tracks. It’s with a song called Leaves on the CD we’ve just released.

“It’s about an old mate of mine who was a pro footballer before he got injured. Because he couldn’t work people treated him like a drain on society. They didn’t want to see the person behind.

“It’s great news to us that people like it so much, Everyone has been ringing us saying we were top of the WO charts. We’ve got a pretty dedicated group of fans that follow us to all our gigs but on Monday there was loads of people we hadn’t seen before. There’s a good chance they discovered us because of the charts which is a nice thought. It’s a great idea and a good way to promote local bands in the community.”

So how are things going – apart from with the WO?

In the last few months it’s been great. We’ve been getting some good local radio play and a lot more local interest. We’re playing a few tour dates soon with a band called Therapy, who were big back in the 90s and have been offered a few gigs in Poland – in some city I can’t pronounce.

But just for the moment we’re happy to enjoy ourselves.”

The Involved are completed by Lee (guitar), Garry (drums),and Mark (lead guitar).