Are pubs the new clubs? That was the question on the cover of one clubbing magazine recently. Since the magazine folded the very next issue - not enough clubbers left to actually buy the thing - the answer seems to be: 'It certainly looks that way.' The Streets rapped about lager and made films in rundown British boozers, and it's down the pub we find Audio Bullys making the video for their first single 'We Don't Care'. It's all perfectly fitting.
'I like the fact our songs sound like they could only have come from the UK,' says Simon Franks. Franks and Tom Dinsdale, two Marlboro-voiced whippersnappers from the London suburbs, reckon Audio Bullys fit into a lineage of determinedly English-sounding groups that include The Specials, Ian Dury & the Blockheads and the Happy Mondays. Though their music is a modern amalgam of funky raga baselines and acid-fried effects, it's their lyrics - delivered in Franks's leery street patois - that provide the link. Radio 1's Sara Cox is an enthusiast, she made their forthcoming debut single 'We Don't Care' her record of the week. Indeed, in 2003, Audio Bullys happily find themselves as the Right Band at the Right Time. Until recently, a British rapper who talked up kebab shops and spliffs in a thick Birmingham accent would have been laughed out of town. But last year, against the blandest charts in living memory, The Streets found his true tales of urban life struck a massive chord. Audio Bullys reckon they know why. 'All these manufactured pop groups,' tuts Franks. 'People just want to hear stuff that feels real to them. That's why I love So Solid Crew. They're British, real, and cool.'
Franks and Dinsdale have been mates for years, ducking in and out of the UK club scene: Dinsdale DJing, Franks living it up at the capital's garage nights at the Coliseum and the Chunnel Club. More recently, they got their hands grubby knocking out bootlegs of R&B hits, and, at 22 (Franks) and 24 (Dinsdale), they're a welcome youth injection into a weary dance scene. Now all they have to do is leave home. 'We both still live with our parents,' groans Dinsdale.
'We're young and a bit different,' says Franks. 'Our attitude to music is exactly what clubbing needs to get back to - stripped down and dirty. Who wants to go to these big clubs where you get lost? Clubs need to get back to the vibe of Basement Jaxx's night, Rooty.' And Rooty, readers should note, takes place in a grotty old pub.
· The single 'We Don't Care' is released on 6 January.
