The Rifles, The Rakes, Hard-Fi... from the list of names on The On-Offs' press release I've got a feeling that what I'm about to hear might be uber-hip, but also uber-shit. My fears are heightened when I learn that 'Wrong Upstairs' is produced by none other than Bernard Butler, a man who knows a thing or two about making urchin-rock for the masses having done wonders for The Libertines back in the day. Boy, do I hate them.
But wait! On-Offs singer Danny Connors actually manages to sound more like Grant Nicholas on Feeder's good songs (see: 'Insomnia', 'High') than anybody remotely cool, and 'Wrong Upstairs' doesn't annoy me in the least. In fact, it's a catchy, energetic mod-tinged number with some pre-chorus riffage that sounds like Supergrass covering Led Zep. How many Hard-Fi songs can you say that about?
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6Rob Webb's Score