It's been a series of false starts for British band Suede.

As one of several one-named guitar groups from across the pond -- Oasis, Pulp, Radiohead, Elastica, Blur, Supergrass and Gene -- trying to establish a North American presence over the last few years, they've suffered more than most.

Initially, it was Suede's '90s take on glam-rock, with influences ranging from Bowie to The Smiths, that did the group in at home.

"We were just completely out of step," says Suede bassist Mat Osman down the line from London prior to the group's sold-out show Friday night at the Warehouse.

"When we started off, all the bands around us were very cool. We came along with this collection of songs -- we were quite passionate about what we did. For two years people just laughed at us.

"That's just the way Britain works. It's quite exciting. It's quite frustrating. But that's just the way it goes."

The next thing you know, Melody Maker put Suede, who hadn't even released their first single, on a 1992 cover proclaiming them "The Best New Band in Britain." Their first self-titled album, in 1993, went on to win the Mercury Prize in England.

"Of all the things we've ever been given I put that pretty low down the list," says Osman. "It's voted for by critics, which seems a bit pointless. The things we've won when real people have voted for us have always been good. But I personally don't think they should have such things. Pop music is the one thing left, the one art form left, that doesn't need prizes and sponsorship. I've always hated that."

Suede then were upstaged by the Cranberries on a North American tour.

Following that, the band's prize guitarist Bernard Butler left near the end of recording the band's second album, Dog Man Star, in 1994.

Butler has since been replaced by young guitarist Richard Oakes, who was 17 when he joined the band, and Neil Codling, the cousin of drummer Simon Gilbert, came on board as keyboardist.

"We've been the world's most fashionable band and the world's most unfashionable band within about six months," says Osman, who originally formed the group in 1989 with androgynous lead singer Brett Anderson.

"At the moment we're incredibly fashionable and by Christmas I'm sure people will be burning our records again."

Suede is currently hitting both commercial and critical high notes with their latest album, Coming Up, which entered the U.K. charts at No. 1 last fall.

It's sold about 25,000 copies in Canada since last October and was only just released in the U.S. in April, where it's sold about 10,000 copies.

In the interim, however, Suede has clearly been eclipsed in profile by Oasis, Pulp and Elastica in North America. All three bands were recently named by SPIN as among the 40 most vital artists in music today.

"We've heard a bit about Oasis doing all right over there," says Osman. "It's very strange 'cause all of those bands in Britain are pop bands. Us and Oasis and Pulp and people like that, I mean, that is the mainstream in Britain. So no one gets really sort of fluffed up about someone in America saying these things are cool, indie, alternative stuff. 'Cause in Britain, we are Mariah Carey and Michael Jackson. These are the bands you hear on the radio, and these are the bands you see on TV and these are the bands that are No. 1."