2004, sings a tune of my youth to me. I'm 19 now so am getting on a fair bit. I was 10 and was kind of just properly discovering music. Before the days of 'YouTube' there was a site called 'Yahoo Music'. This was where I discovered the Ordinary Boys. 'Week in Week Out' was the stand out track, thrash-y guitar and Harrington jackets depicted a video set on an urban wasteland. "Week in and Week Out your lucky charms will always let you down", it was one of those songs that I must of played about 100 times before moving on and discovering the rest of the album. It is a song which has become a firm favourite of mine and my Dads. 'Talk, Talk, Talk' was another one that followed a similar style, nice guitar sound, early jam esque, punchy lyrics. I was seriously digging this!Preston became an idol of mine, he still is. Although mod has left his soul, he stills recognises it's relevance as he once tweeted me "I wore my parka today". The album as a whole is a modern masterpiece. Superb from start to finish with no last minute album fillers in sight. It's an album that really means a lot to me despite it being dismissed by music 'critics' and placed in budget music shop bargain bins for 99p. It shouldn't be there! It's up there with the Arctic's début for albums of my generation, in my opinion. The album even featured a cover of the much loved Specials classic, 'Little Bitch' what's not to like? It's pumped with energy and youthful frustration unlike the shite produced by the stadium bands we have today. The Ordinary boys really created something special, filling Baseball stadiums out in Japan with around 40'000 people attending their gigs there! Why did Britain not follow suit? I remember seeing them perform 'Talk Talk Talk' on 'Later... with Jools Holland' and being stunned at how energetic Preston and the band were. 2004 was a year that really exploded in terms of Indie. Kasabian released their self titled debut along with Franz Ferdinand, The Libertines another name to mention.
Competition was hot and it was a real life battle of the bands. Not to mention Oasis were still around too. I couldn't write this article without mentioning Preston's Celebrity Big Brother appearance, this didn't bother me at all it just raised the bands profile and got more people listening. 'Over the Counter Culture' mixed soft with loud, 'Just a Song' is a prime example of this and it shows Preston's outstanding creative ability as a songwriter the whole album for me, should of been much more appreciated than it initially was.In a nutshell I love this band in case you haven't already noticed, they should have gone much further. Preston still has hits in him, look at "Run This Town" the Ordinary Boys newest release which coincided with their 2011 comeback tour. Cracker. There's loads of B-sides of theirs which are outstanding too, "Hand in Hand" and "Nip it in the Bud" to name a few. This band really are one to praise. They did everything right, just didn't get the full attention they deserved. With 2014 looming upon us and "Over the Counter Culture" being nearly 10 years old, new material is a possibility.
If you fancy joining the Ordinary Army and having a good old dance then catch the boys at Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen on Friday 13th December. Tickets selling fast. Like many The Ordinary Boys are just another finely tuned cog in the machine that is the British music scene.
