A couple of guys sat in a booth at the Bobby Sox '50s Diner and reminisced about hanging out at the retro hamburger joint in Maple Ridge in the past.

"I used to come here every Wednesday with my dad for milkshakes," said frontman Curtis Steeksma, who is one-fifth of the pop-rock band Fighting for Ithaca.

Last week Fighting for Ithaca released its single Last Chance.

The pepped-up and positive fist-pumper is dedicated to spending nights with friends and living in the moment, and has already garnered radio play.

"Our single, Last Chance, came out on Monday and immediately started charting on iTunes," said drummer Phil Maloney, who is part of the 20s-something band along with Steeksma, bassist Tommy Phoenix, guitarist Jon Steeksma, and new addition and guitarist Adamm Mounstevens.

"It has been picked up by radio quickly, and last night was featured on the Sonic Spin Off. Sonic puts two songs against each other, and we were up against the new Justin Bieber track. We ended up beating Bieber with 96 per cent of the vote," he explained.

"We used to be heavier than we are now," Steeksma said.

"We were still a pop rock band, but we had heavier guitar riffing. We started moving away from that. Last Chance is the first song that we wrote where we realized the direction we want to go in."

Helping the band along the way was producer Danny Craig - drummer of the platinum selling band, Default, which tracked the seven-song set at Vancouver's Mushroom Studios and his home studio.

Craig's laid-back style helped the recording run smoother than the timeconstrained graveyard sessions they had previously been accustomed to. "He's perfected the art of making you feel comfortable with what you have, while also pushing you into a new direction," Steeksma said.

"We've gone from being pretty popular in the local scene to running around with the guys in Marianas Trench and Faber Drive, to Danny from Default - all these guys from these very big bands," said Maloney.

While Fighting For Ithaca has managed to come a long way on their own, the band is pumped to take on the next stage as part of the ever-growing 604 Records family.

The boys from Fighting For Ithaca are anxiously awaiting the debut of their EP, To The Rescue. It should be announced shortly.

smclaren@mrtimes.com