The Ordinary Boys
Calendar boys: Christmas is just around the corner, so what's a well-respected indie band to do? Stock up on class-A drugs? Release an "ironic" Christmas song? Go carol singing with The Libertines? The Ordinary Boys have chosen to put an advent calendar on their website (www.ordinaryboys.co.uk). Click on a date and you'll find lots of cool stuff - unreleased demos, picture puzzles, a pop quiz and a game of bonk where you have to hit the flying heads of each band member. Hours of fun for all the family. You can also win tickets to see gigs by the band described as "the most brilliant-sounding, pissed-off English band we've heard in ages". They'll be playing Dolan's in Limerick on February 7th and Dublin's Temple Bar Music Centre on February 8th.
Word Smiths: The Ordinary Boys were formed by four musically minded chums in Worthing near Brighton in the spring of 2002. Singer/guitarist Preston grew up listening to The Kinks, The Smiths and The Jam, and his lyrical ideas were fueled by Oscar Wilde, P.G. Wodehouse and Will Self. With bandmates William J. Brown on guitar, James Gregory on bass and Charles Stanley on drums, The Ordinary Boys set out to be more than ordinary, and turned their shared interest in Two Tone, Tamla Motown and classic pop into such exuberant tunes as Maybe Someday and Week In, Week Out. Their début album, Over the Counter Culture, tackles modern Britain's obsessions with empty consumerism and vacuous celebrity worship. The band also declared war on self-centred rock stars and doped-up divas: "It's not f***ing difficult to get addicted to cocaine. Why glamorise something that's so easy?"
Moz pit: They took their name from a Morrissey song, they got Stephen Street in to produce, so it's understandable to expect Over the Counter Culture to sound like a modern-day The Queen Is Dead. It doesn't quite, but with such songs as The List Goes On, Little Bitch, Settle Down, Weekend Revolution and In Awe of the Awful, there's no shortage of intelligent, sarcastic lyrics and insistent guitar tunesmithery. Appearances at T in the Park, Glasto and Reading, and support slots with The Thrills and Stellastarr have helped The Ordinary Boys build up a boisterous fanbase, who are not shy of loudly and annoyingly showing their appreciation. Sweet and tender hooligans, indeed.
Bell end: The Ordinary Boys recently lost their drummer and are hoping to announce his replacement before Christmas. Sadly, they won't be playing the promised free Christmas shows for their fans, but, by way of consolation, they've recorded an "ironic" version of Sleigh Bells for the Jo Whiley show, which you'll soon be able to hear on the website.
