Rockers of a certain age must get a distinct sense of déjà vu when they look at this year’s Download festival line-up.

With the main attractions including Donnington Park veterans Def Leppard, Whitesnake, ZZ Top and Motley Crue, it’s a sure bet that the VIP area will hum with the sound of aging axe heroes remembering a time when these fields were home to the Monsters Of Rock festival - and a download of any kind was entirely unknown to the music industry. The younger acts billed aren’t exactly immune to the catching 80s nostalgia of the moment either. Buckcherry, Steel Panther, Dear Superstar and Papa Roach have all been credited with making big hair and ball-crushing strides only half as laughable as they were five years ago.

The latest upstarts to be added to the second stage, and to the list of groups to openly quote the ‘Crue as an influence, are Atlanta four piece Steadlür. But don’t dare to assume from that that they’re here to champion some kind of glam revival.

“We don’t want to be a band that comes out and says ‘this is who we are’”, lays down vocalist / guitarist Philip Steadlür, who along with brother and drummer Dallas lends the group it’s name. “I don’t like when people come out and go ‘yeah, we’re a hair metal band’. Whenever I’m talking to people who haven’t heard my band and they’re like ‘what kind of music do you play?’ I’ll go ‘rock ‘n’ roll’. They say ‘what kind?’, I say ‘why don’t you go listen to it for yourself?’. If you paint yourself into a corner then you’re headed for a lot of criticism from a lot of people. But if you don’t put yourself in that corner then you don’t have to try and claw your way out of it”.

These wise words are not without grounding on Steadlür’s self-titled debut album. After listening for yourself it must be agreed that the quartet - completed by guitarist Tommy and bassist Daniel, who take the stage surname Steadlür - have spread their roots suitably far between the 80s party bands, grungy mid-90s influences and contemporary alt rock sounds. They stand a good chance of not being dragged down with the current retro trend when it inevitably crashes. Philip explains their broad musical lineage, looking back to rockstars who were enjoying their heyday when he was but a twinkle, by saying “when I was eleven or twelve I’d go to work with my dad, or I’d drive around in the truck with him.

"He was always listening to classic rock stations and so I got a big dose of Thin Lizzy, Kiss, Credence. At the same time the whole alternative movement was going on too, so while I was getting hit with bands like Motley Crue the bands that were really popular were like Weezer, Foo Fighters - of course everyone loved Nirvana. I got really into Weezer and Radiohead at the same time I was listening to Kiss and Pantera”.

Being brought up on both the excesses of 80s rock, and it’s utter anathema in the understated grunge movement - which many of the former acts credit with killing their careers - has given Steadlür a unique sonic identity. Meanwhile a distinctive tongue-in-cheek lyrical stance, showcased on their irritatingly catchy pop-punk jeer at trust fund kids ‘My Mom Hates Me’, stems from the blue-collar Southern upbringing suggested by all this talk of classic rock radio and a childhood spend riding around in trucks.

Another tip now; don’t dare assume from their apparent rapid ascent out of anonymity onto major festival bills that Steadlür have had any big breaks handed to them on a plate.

“We have worked hard for everything”, reckons Philip. “We’ve basically lived in our rehearsal spaces, played shows to no-one. You gotta pay your dues, and there’s a part of me that hates these bands that come out of nowhere and because their families have a crap ton of money they don’t have to work for it everyday.

“The same thing goes for kids that have a crap ton of money but no love for their mom and dad”, he rallies on. “They rebel against their parents and they run off and try to act like they don’t want to their money and try to act like they’re a bum, but deep down in their back pocket they’ve still got that bit of plastic for mommy and daddy’s bank account”.

It might be tempting to interpret his anger on this point as jealousy but Philip is quick to convince that he truly believes there to be some blessings that are peculiar to coming up the hard way. “When you’re handed everything, or something is just given to you, you don’t appreciate it for what it is”, he says, sounding disarmingly wise beyond his years and sensible beyond Steadlür’s party animal reputation. “When you work for something you’re like ‘holy crap, I’ve earned this’”.

With these values Philip assures his band won’t be taking their lucky break for granted, or taking on any airs and graces. At least not too soon. On the long Stateside tour with fellow Southern sons Black Stone Cherry which kicked off 2009 that dedication to ‘keeping it real’ meant “hanging around with the people, meeting the people - people who’ve taken time out of their lives to listen to this band. It’s one thing that we need to do now, because this is ground level”, he figures. “We can’t do that forever, so right now is a good time to show people our appreciation”.

The inference is that Steadlür don’t intend to stick around at ‘ground level’ for long. With the album having hit shops here in mid-May their next step towards realizing their grand ambition on this side of the pond is a string of club dates ahead of that Download appearance, including one at Camden’s Barfly. “The capacity is like 300 people or less and I love that”, beams Philip, “it’s so punk rock to just play some small clubs. We’re just gonna do what we always do: show up, be really loud and do our best to entertain everybody, just make sure that everybody has a good time - we’ll go there, play, be loud and proud and drink with everybody”.

One final tip might be to reserve your seat at the bar with them while you‘ve still got the chance. On the evidence of what they’ve achieved so far, only a fool would dare underestimate these kids.

Steadlür play Camden Barfly on 9 June. For ticket information call 0844 8472424.