Cavan youngsters The Strypes have had a whirlwind year, of that there is no doubt. Their debut EP from the teenagers, Young, Gifted & Blue, was released before the summer last year and since then things have picked up considerable steam, eventually culminating with a record deal with Mercury Records.

The Strypes' year just got even more impressive, though. Foo Fighters front-man Dave Grohl, who is temporarily hosting US talk show Chelsea Lately, has Sir Elton John on as a guest during the week. Now, Sir Elton is a known admirer of The Strypes, having signed them to his management company, and was more than happy to discuss the Cavan group in detail when Grohl brought them up. Pretty cool, we're sure you'll agree.

"They have a knowledge of R&B and blues at 16 years of age that I've only amassed in my 65 years", said John. "They're playing music like the Rolling Stones used to, or the Yardbirds, or The Beatles. It's astonishing to find kids of that age wanting to play music like that, most kids want to be Justin Bieber."

John also revealed that The Stypres will be working with legendary producer Chris Thomas on their upcoming debut LP. Thomas' past credits include mixing The Beatles' White Album, and production on two Roxy Music albums, The Sex Pistols' Never Mind The Bollocks and Different Class by Pulp (among many others).

Skip to the 4.30 mark in the below video and you'll see what we're talking about.