THE Shake Babies open their new EP with a sample from a radio phone-in.

In it, a Ken from Plymouth suggests that it may help all the ''people that did fight the last war,'' if they could understand ''why the majority of these coloured people are so aggressive,'' suggesting that ''they're churning out messages and propaganda in their rap''.

There then follows the title track Flicking Up The V-Sign. And they're not talking corporate sponsorship.

Basil, or Brother B as he is otherwise known (''I've no idea how it happened'') explains. But first a warning - Shake Babies set no store in single-issue politics.

''Whatever I write about has got to come from my experience. So walking into your classroom and being the only black person and everybody's got NF or a swastika on their exercise book or you're walking down the road and the postman will stop his van just so he can get out and call you a black b****** - that kind of stuff is going to have an effect.

''But I'm not saying that's what we're all about.''

Experiences

Shake Babies are about much more. On the eastside they put the gold lame trousers back into a city full of bands who ''stare at their shoes''. On the west, they show that there's more to hip-hop than the US mythology of guns, playas and hoes.

''I was born in Croydon and I live in Manchester. If I was tending to that side of the tracks, my mother would give me a swift slap anyway,'' says Basil, removing tongue from cheek. ''What hip-hop is supposed to be about is telling people about your experiences.''

The EP itself, the band describe as riot 'n' soul. It's certainly the most psychedelic thing you're likely to hear this side of Croydon for some time.

Ram-raiding Big Beat with future-skool rhymes, they range from the punkoid pop of the title track to an schreechily insane take on the Kinks' You Really Got Me. Ray Davies would probably hate it.

They also display a delightful line in pop arrogance. ''The good thing about the Shake Babies,'' he explains, ''is that you ask anybody in the band, they will tell you that they are the most important.''

In what way are you? ''Because I'm the most attractive, the most intelligent, the most articulate. Obviously.''

But beyond the bravado and the free sweets their audience receive, there's another serious point. Their V-sign comes well targeted - on the EP at least - at boybands, girlbands and indie bands.

An all-out declaration of war, then? ''Absolutely. You don't have to be in an indie band to be crap, but what we're railing against is complacency. So as an example Posh Spice has got her single out. And you just know the song was an afterthought. The main thrust of the whole thing was the marketing. The charts aren't about the music any more. There's something seriously wrong in that.''

All of which means we should maybe give Basil a chance to make good his promise for this week's EP launch.

''It'll be literally the best show you're gonna see all year.''

And if he makes good on all his promises, people should definitely turn up. ''When Little Richard sang: 'Good Golly Miss Molly, sure like to ball,' you knew exactly what he was talking about. There's that primal urge in what we do that sets us apart from all these bands who pretend that they don't have any genitals whatsoever.''

Ken from Plymouth, safe to say, has picked the wrong fight.

Shake Babies play Matt & Phreds on Tuesday. Flickin' Up The V-Sign is out now on Girls Packin' Guns/Uglyman.

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