Twenty years is a long time. Long enough for a band to become a cult memory, for their songs to soundtrack a generation’s formative years, and for the question “whatever happened to The Ordinary Boys?” to pop up at least once at every indie disco worth its salt. Today, that question gets an answer. The Worthing band are back with new single ‘Peer Pressure’ via Scruff Of The Neck, and it’s a very welcome return.
Frontman Samuel Preston describes the song with characteristic directness: “Peer Pressure is a song about the stories we tell ourselves to rationalise our excesses, and how we ignore the real problems of life in a post AI world with its billionaires and manosphere.” As opening statements go for a comeback single, that’s a bold one — but it fits a band who always had something to say beneath the infectious hooks. The track draws on the indie-ska roots that made them such a distinctive presence in the mid-2000s, and Preston is clear about the intention: “We wrote it as a song that we wanted to hear the crowd singing back to us.” On the evidence of ‘Peer Pressure’, they’ll get their wish.
It’s been over a decade since The Ordinary Boys were last active, but their legacy has held up remarkably well. Over The Counterculture, Brassbound and How To Get Everything In Ten Easy Steps remain genuinely great records, and Top 10 singles ‘Boys Will Be Boys’, ‘Nine2Five’, ‘Lonely At The Top’ and ‘I Luv U’ still get rooms moving. Their 2006 Glastonbury performance — which memorably featured Phil Jupitus joining them on stage — remains one of the festival’s fondest indie memories of that era.
They eased back in gently in March with two sold-out intimate shows in London and their hometown of Worthing, and now a full summer of live dates follows — festival appearances, dates alongside Madness, and a slot at Victorious Festival in August among the highlights. Preston sums it up simply: “It’s so fun to be back playing again and releasing songs.” Hard to argue with that.
‘Peer Pressure’ is out now via Scruff Of The Neck.
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