Yahoo! Music Album Review

Released on 30/10/06
Label: Polydor

Or should that be one easy step? Certainly, before that feted appearance on "Celebrity Big Brother", the future for Sam Preston and his Ordinary Boys was somewhat bleak. Stuck in the slow lane as the Kaiser Chiefs and, most notably, Hard-Fi, zoomed past to chart glory, their brand of ska-infused mod rock looked increasingly redundant. Dismal sales of the band's second album, "Brassbound", saw them released from their record deal and the vacant gravestone next to Terris, Shed Seven and 22-20s awaited their name.

To put it bluntly, drastic action was needed. It was. One stint on prime time TV next to Michael Barrymore, Dennis Rodman and George 'The Cat' Galloway later, plus marriage to non-celebrity celebrity Chantelle, and Preston has become a 3AM fixture and tabloid regular. A well-mannered and awkward regular admittedly, but new-found fame has resulted in a shiny new major label contract and another shot at the charts. As a pre-emptive career strike, you'd have to pat the boy on the back.

Of course, getting that third album on the shelves is one thing; selling it is another. And, having climbed up through the back door, that's the crux of the Ordinary Boys' problem with "How To Get Everything…": a good proportion of the band's existing fans will paint Preston as a media whore and irredeemably naff (you wonder whether previous champions like Morrissey and Weller tuned into Channel 4 back in February), whereas their new audience spends their disposable income on £1 celebrity tit tat and have little interest in Madness, The Jam or The Stranglers.

And that's one thing that hasn't changed - from the opening "uh-uh-uh-oh…Oi!" bounce of "Lonely At The Top" it's clear that the Ordinary Boys remain stuck in their late-'70s post-punk bubble. Amid the relentless assault of shout-along choruses, cheeky brass-driven verses and skanking rhythms, the only concession to modernity is Lady Sovereign's godawful rapping on "Nine2Five". Preston does his best to channel those post-BB experiences into his songwriting ("We've Got The Best Job Ever", "Walking On The Faultlines (The Ultimate Step"), "Great Big Rip Off") but sheds little light on the experience of 21st Century fame.

The only deviations being the big knees-up ballad "I Luv You", which has 'hit' written all over it - especially if Chantelle can be persuaded to play the Kylie to Preston's Jason in the video - and the closing instrumental "Thankyou And Goodnight". This ambitious six minute cocktail jazz noodle finishes the album out on a warm note. Unfortunately it also reiterates that true greatness is achieved by risking your art as well as your artifice. The Ordinary Boys have come on bounds with the latter, but musically they're stuck in a rut and on this evidence you'd have to bet against them recording another record. A case of 14 minutes 53 seconds and counting…

    by Adam Webb