Music, Style & Culture
| Magazine : Online : Radio : Mobile

The Ordinary Boys - Brassbound

Album Reviews

If it wasn't for the fact they didn't have the charm, charisma, and all out pop genius of Kaiser Chiefs, you'd almost feel sorry for The Ordinary Boys.

B-Unique, 20th June 2005 / By Stephen Ackroyd
The Ordinary Boys - Brassbound It must be somewhat irritating for a band to see the plucky upstarts they took on tour achieving Top Ten chart success, while they themselves still dream of such heady heights. If it wasn't for the fact they didn't have the charm, charisma, and all out pop genius of Kaiser Chiefs/b], you'd almost feel sorry for The Ordinary Boys. Then again, unless someone skipped two pages and declared The Dead 60s the new musical messiahs, going Ska isn't the answer.

Pitching in at somewhere between a lazy attempt at Morrissey-style vocals, and a backwater, brass section touting pub band, there are moments of 'Brassbound' that genuinely induce impressive cringing. Inviting a second rate Lou Bega to guest on 'Boys Will Be Boys' may be funny, but is equally bewildering. 'Life Will Be The Death Of Me' almost painfully attempts to rip off The Clash's 'I Fought The Law', while 'On An Island' sounds like an unholy combination of UB40 and Weezer. For God's sake, why?

Then again, hidden deep inside is probably the spark of a halfway decent pop band. 'Skull & Bones' rattles along well enough, despite sounding a bit like an up-tempo Beautiful South. 'Red Letter Day' sees the customary second album string section broken out, creating something close to a South Coast Western, while 'A Call To Arms' will surely be the big single; anthemic in the way that the brighter moments of 'Over The Counter Culture' managed.

Whether anything can make up for the white man reggae of 'Rudy's In Love' is another thing entirely - sounding more like something your Dad might sing embarrasingly while doing the garden than a modern day classic. Poor The Ordinary Boys. Rating: 4/10

Comments