Music: Jeff Hemmings

The Ordinary Boys – Samuel Preston is both an Ordinary Boy and a one-time celebrity…

You may remember the 2006 series of Celebrity Big Brother, which within its many sub-plots, featured the one-time constant tabloid presence, Samuel Preston, otherwise simply known as Preston. The Worthing born and bred singer and songwriter struck up an intimate relationship with fellow inmate Chantelle Houghton, who eventually went on to win the thing, to be followed by marriage, and not long afterwards, divorce…
At the time Preston and his band The Ordinary Boys were riding high in the charts, having enjoyed initial success with the Britpop/American pop punk fusion of Over The Counter Culture, followed by the more ska-based album Brasshound and the pop-friendly How To Get Everything You Ever Wanted in Ten Easy Steps, all of which featured hit singles, including Boys Will Be Boys, Lonely At The Top and I Luv U. But, that was that. Shortly afterwards, he embarked on a soon-to-be-aborted solo career, followed by a more fruitful career as a songwriter for others. In particular he co-wrote the number one hit, Heart Skips A Beat, With Olly Murs.

“I don’t even remember if we split up; I don’t think we did, not officially,” says Preston. “We never officially came back either. We’ve done the odd tour but I’m so wary of saying ‘we’re back’. I hate the idea of being on the nostalgia circuit. When we did our first album we had to get our parents to sign release forms, we were under the age of consent to make an album. We’ve always been a young band.”
And they do sound young, vibrant and fresh. The new, eponymously titled album, the first for nine years, could have been made before they ever released anything. American pop punk and hardcore, along with hints of UK indie and punk, infuse this tremendous blast of fresh air. “It really has been a case of getting into a little studio with our friends, and recording songs we had written, bashed out in the practice room, in the way we would have done it for the first record.”
As Preston has candidly admitted: “The Ordinary Boys had wandered pretty far from the sound, energy and ethos that had garnered respect for our debut album and earned us our still-loyal fanbase. So, I made Spinal Tap-esque phone calls to bassist James Gregory and drummer Charlie Stanley who I hadn’t played with since that record. After promising several times that it wouldn’t sound anything like the questionable third album, we met for some beers and started rehearsing. We were 15 again.”
Haunt, Tues 27 October, 7pm, £11