Hey,

Thanks to everyone who came to the signing session/social gig today I think that, against all odds we can safely call it a success. Bit of a weird one for us as we decided to do a short gig which consisted of approximately 50% new material at the social. A special thank you to all those who stayed after the gig for my Dj set (listed below) it seemed to go down pretty well and the owners of the social asked me back so I may be Djing there again soon.

My Dj set tonight:

David Bowie - Telling Lies (Adam F Mix)
The Fall - Hit The North
Gang Of Four - Tourist (The Others' Additive Free Mix)
Carfax - Going To London
Hamell On Trial - Tough love
Duran Duran - Electric Barbarella
Alabama 3 - Hello, I'm Johnny Cash
Dave Gahan - Dirty Sticky Floor
Eels - Flyswatter
Public Image Limited - Rise
British Sea Power - Please Stand Up
Bananarama - Really Saying Something
The Teardrop Explodes - Ha Ha, I'm Drowning
Suede - New Generation
Morrisey - First Of The Gang
The Clash - Lost In The Supermarket
Elastica - Waking Up
Echo And The Bunnymen - Back Of Love
Ash - Girl From Mars
Bloc Party - This Modern Love

And as our gig had a pretty unusual setlist I thought I'd list that too:

13 Years (new track)
Lackey
King Prawn
Barflies (new track)
William
Would It Matter To You? (new track)
Stan Bowles
Community 853

Thanks for making it *special*. See you all on tour

Cheers

Johnny
xx

Pre-order William now from HMV here

Hello everyone,

Our new single, William will be released on 4th April and has already garnered many plays on Jo Whiley's daytime show on Radio 1, daytime plays on Virgin and is a listed on daytime Xfm - we're very pleased.

I managed to get an additional track as part of the 7" b-sides (value for money n'all) so the final formats and tracklistings will be as follows:

CD:
William (Alan Moulder Single Mix)
This Is For The Poor (Phones Bourgeois [Paul Epworth] Remix)

Ltd Ed 7"pt 1 (in deluxe gatefold sleeve)
William (Radio Edit)
Psychovision (2003 Demo)

Ltd Ed 7"pt 2 (fits into sleeve of pt 1)
NME BRATS SHOW SPECIALfeaturing blistering 100mph versions of:
William (Live at The Astoria)
Community 853 (Live At The Astoria)
Stan Bowles (Live At The Astoria)

If you pre-order via this link you will get all three formats (that's 7 different tracks altogether) for just £5!!!! Buying or pre-ordering the single in the first week would really help us out as any tv appearrances (CDUK or TOTP) are confirmed on the basis of midweek chart positions.The Paul Epworth mix of This Is For The Poor is a true masterpiece (you can hear it the more twisted clubs in the UK now) and I think with that the whole single can be classed as a double A side!

The William tour - forthcoming live dates are confirmed as follows:

April:
05th - Reading - Fez
06th - Manchester - Uni Academy 3
07th - Newcastle -Northumbria Uni
08th - Northampton – Roadhouse
09th - Birmingham - Academy 2
10th - Sheffield - University Foundry

30th – Amsterdam Paradiso (Holland)

May:
12th – Paris – Venue tbc (France)
14th - Glasgow - Arches (Poptones Night)
20th - London - Garage (Bud Rising)
Main support for the tour will come from the marvellous Agent Blue.

More european and some Japanese dates will be added soon. Keep checking back here for updates.

A performance of Willaim will be featured on Popworld this Sunday and interview will follow the week after.

Looking forward to the tour, see you all soon

Cheers

Johnny
xx

Well, after battling with broken trains on the track (blahblahblah) I made it to Brixton Academy just in time to do a half hour set in for Xfm in the Xposure room. Here's what i played:

The Others - This Is For the Poor (Paul Epworth Phones Mix)
Gang Of Four - At Home He's A Tourist (Additive Free Others Mix)
The Fall - Hit The North
Mansun - Negative
David Bowie - The Hearts Filthy Lesson
Agent Blue - Crossbreed
Puressence - Walking Dead
Ash - Kung Fu
Fun Boy Three - Farmyard Connection
Scott Walker - Jackie

Happy Easter!

Cheers

Johnny
xx

With the charming diving enthusiast Dave Pemberton as engineer, me James and Martin spent every waking hour of Monday in a London studio creating our “Additive Free” remix of Gang Of Four’s “At Home He’s A Tourist” and since crawling out of bed this morning I’ve been listening to nothing else!

We decided to only use material from the original tracks that we were given by GOF, so no new instruments or parts were added. So although it sounds pretty far removed from their original release, everything you hear on our mix is on the original somewhere or in some form. And while the song only clocked in at 3:34 mins in 1979, we’ve created a relentless near 5 minute monster you'll want to dance yer socks off to in 2005. Expect to hear at a club near you soon - ON THE DISCO FLOOR!

We think Gang of Four are releasing a new best of album with a remix disc so expect to see our “…Tourist” on there and if anyone wants a sneaky pre-listen I will almost definitely be playing it on all my forthcoming DJ sets.

Cheers

Johnny
xx

Main support for the William live dates will be the wonderful Agent Blue - I am hoping we can split the first on slot between two different bands t.b.c.

William is up for pre-order from HMV on cd, 7" and a special limited edition 7" Gatefold (which the others 7" slips inside) via this link

April Tour:

05 - Reading - Fez
06 - Manchester - Uni Academy 3
07 - Newcastle -Northumbria Uni
08 - Northampton - Roadhouse
09 - Birmingham - Academy 2
10 - Sheffield - University Foundry

TV & Radio Update:

We were recording The Friday Night Project all day yesterday - the show will be aired tonight. I think that they appreciated us having come up with so many different instrumental pieces for use during the show – they even asked us to come up with another one on the spur of the moment which would be 25 seconds long so we opted for How I Nearly Lost You.

It was a lot of fun (much more than I had expected it to be) and Jimmy Carr actually seemed like A Very Nice Chap. So nice in fact that he invited Dom and myself to come on his Xfm radio show to “have a chat” this Sunday. If anyone wants to listen I think the show is on air from 10am (and if you live outside London you can listen online at http://www.xfm.co.uk)

On Wednesday we did Popworld and found out that we will be making two appearances over two different shows, firstly (I think) this Sunday and secondly (prob performing the song) the day before the single comes out (Sunday 3rd April).

On Monday me and James and Martin are going into a studio to do an Others’ remix of Gang Of Four’s "At Home He’s A Tourist" – it’s a swap mix so they have agreed to remix "Lackey" for us in return. Interesting new directions hmm…

On March 24th I (and I think Dom too) will be Dj-ing at Brixton Academy for an Xfm/Oxfam event.

Here is the press release:
-------------------------
Xfm's Big Night Out
THURSDAY 24TH MARCH 2005 9pm-3amTICKETS £9 adv/£12 door (Box Office Cash Sales - Charges Apply To Other Sales)

Xfm's Big Night Out on March 24 (9pm-3am) in aid of Oxfam, is bringing an unrivaled line-up of DJs and live new bands to the Academy. Xfm's DJ roster will be taking up turntable duties, including Christian O'Connell, Lauren Laverne, Alex Zane, Iain Baker, Eddy Temple Morris, Chris Smith, Dan Greenpeace and John Kennedy plus First Friday resident Jared. Live sets will be provided by this year's freshest new talent; boisterous rockers Nine Black Alps, the flamboyant Do Me Bad Things and geezer rockers Hard-Fi. Basically, it's like one big First Friday with a bit of the Remix Night as well as great new live acts thrown in!
------------------------
Current research:
Donna Tartt – The Secret History
Mogwai – Government Commissions
The Fall – Hex Enduction Hour

Cheers

Johnny
xx

Hello,

We spent Monday rehearsing for our performance of William (mimed!) on Popworld which we film tomorrow but isn’t due to be shown on Sunday 3rd April and our pieces for Channel 4's Friday Night Project, which we are recording on thursday (!) - as well as playing William we had to come up with eight instrumental peices, six 6 seconds long and two 12 seconds long.

Apparently most bands just play bits of the song they are promoting but instead we decided to do a sort of album (and b side) sampler which will include bits of This Is For The Poor, King Prawn, Lackey, Southern Glow, Boy is A Girl, Willliam, Almanac and Stan Bowles. This show is due to be aired this Friday (18th) so set those videos...

We've just got back from Wales and it 's been very productive. It was in a very beautiful but very remote valley - three small buildings a few miles away were the only other signs of human life - the weather stayed cold but dry and sunny for the whole week and you could see for miles if you took a five minute walk up the hill (also the only place you could get a mobile signal).

The studio was very nice though it seemed to have a strange effect on us, it's owned by Dave Anderson, the original bassist in Hawkwind - and we had the pleasure of recording acoustic versions of Psychovision, William and Stan Bowles with him in the production seat! Cries of "The Others' go prog?" are less misleading than you’d think as, while we did resist the temptation to cover “Silver Machine”, the ideas we were having sound so removed to our current sound it ‘s more like third album material than second - maybe we'll just skip the second album and move straight onto the third… ho hum.

We left Wales early on Thursday to arrive in London at 4pm ready to soundcheck for the Camden Crawl (which we did manage to do for about 3 minutes) and then me and Dom went to do an interview for MTV – no idea what the prog was or when it will be aired I’m afraid – t’was exceedingly short too. The gig itself was pretty good – lots of people there who had never seen us before, lots of people outside who couldn’t get in – and while the show was chaos it was probably a pretty good introduction to our live experience. After the gig I went down the road to the Canarfen Castle to see Gravenhurst (who are now one of my new favourite bands), saw The Wedding Present at Lock 17 for a while (I love David Gedge’s last band Cinerama, but had never heard TWP) but found them a bit disappointing and so wandered down to The Electric Ballroom to catch the last half of The Buzzcocks. Then it was on the 1am train to Brighton and off to bed!

To all those that have asked, the Rabbit is doing very well and now, fully toliet trained, is enjoying the run of the whole flat! She’s called Margo btw…

Forthcoming live dates are confirmed as follows:

April:

05 - Reading - Fez
06 - Manchester - Uni Academy 3
07 - Newcastle -Northumbria Uni
08 - Northampton - Roadhouse
09 - Birmingham - Academy 2
10 - Sheffield - University Foundry

May:

14th - Glasgow - Arches (Poptones Night)
20th - London - Garage (Bud Rising)

A special edition of the album is released in Japan on 28th March…

Cheers

Johnny
xx

Right, well I think I've just about managed to finish toilet training the house rabbit that me and my girlfriend were given on Saturday (four days isn't too bad!) and I've just about finished replying to all the emails I've received recently - one or two interviews left but generally it feels good to be on top of things at last!

Thanks to all those who made the two gigs last Friday work - it is appreciated and while it's nice to have drums on most tracks, it was nice to do a semi-acoustic set at the Polish Bar - I'm thinking we get some acoustic versions of album tracks for the next single - what say you? How I Nearly Lost You, Stan Bowles and a chunkier version of William perhaps?

I am going away to mystical Wales tomorrow with the band as I have lots of new songs I've been itching to nail properly and I believe that even Mr Jimmy Lager has come up with some hot new riffs and licks - maybe the next record will turn out to be our *POP* album?

New single, William will be released on 4th April (a tour will be announced soon) and has already garnered a Jo Whiley daytime spin on Radio 1 and lots of evening and Xfm plays. I managed to get an additional track as part of the 7" b-sides (value for money n'all) so the final formats and tracklistings will be as follows:

CD:
William (Alan Moulder Single Mix)
This Is For The Poor (Paul Epworth 12" remix)

Ltd Ed 7"pt 1 (in gatefold sleeve)
William (Radio Edit)
Psychovision (2003 Demo)

Ltd Ed 7"pt 2 (fits into sleeve of pt 1)
NME BRATS SHOW SPECIAL
featuring blistering 100mph versions of:
William (Live at The Astoria)
Community 853 (Live At The Astoria)
Stan Bowles (Live At The Astoria)

You should be able to get these three formats (that's 7 tracks altogether!) for less than £5 in the first week of release.

The Paul Epworth mix of This Is For The Poor is a true masterpiece and there is also a 9 minute plus remix of William by Hedman which I am going to try to get released with a handful of other dance mixes of Others songs as a sort of very special limited edition 12" release later in the year (how would you like that?). Gang Of Four are also still working on a Lackey remix (as I write I think) which will see the light of day soon...

TV
The William video - our first with extras dressed in animal suits (who knows where this could lead?) - started receiving regular plays on MTV 2 the very day it dropped onto their doormat. For a sneak preview go here.

An interview with me, Dominic and Martin with the ace Popworld crew is due to be screened on March 16th so set yer videos if you're too lazy to set yer alarms for that.

And (short drumroll) I received an email today from Mersey TV - apparently the Hollyoaks Production crew are big fans of the band and want to use extracts from the album in some forthcoming episodes of this fine soap opera (tracks mentioned were: Lackey, In The Background, William, How I Nearly Lost You, Community 853, Southern Glow). So if u ever needed a reason to watch here it is.

Cheers

Johnny
xx

Current Research:
Babybird - There's Something Going On
Julian Cope - Repossessed

PS: I also spoke to Andrew Kendall today about making the forum only postable on by registered users - it seems like that's the case with virtually every other forum on the net so expect some progress soon.

V&A CENSOR THE AGITATE! EDUCATE! ORGANISE! EXHIBITION THIS FRIDAY FOR BEING TOO POPULAR!!!!…new Veritable Alternative event details as follows….Having thrown the alternative arts a bone in the shape of the Agitate! Educate! Organise! Exhibition, the V&A decided, after receiving an unprecedented amount of phone calls regarding the event, to cancel at 48 hours notice. They claimed a “danger of severe overcrowding” which, in a venue that has held upwards of 4500 people, is a ludicrous statement. The irony of cancelling an event devoted to showing how artists have to find alternative methods of making themselves heard, because of an overly rigid establishment, has obviously not been noticed by the V&A.

So, in the original spirit of the occasion, the band The Others, will be performing a guerrilla gig at the original time of 7.45pm, but now outside the museum. They have also, along with other original exhibitors, managed to resurrect some of the exhibition at a new venue, The Polish Club at 55 Exhibition Road, three minutes walk from the V&A. Tom Sheehan’s film on Selfish Cunt will be shown around 8pm, as well as Mark Wigan’s installation on 20 years of British Club Culture, and The Others will perform a 2nd set later in the evening.

This new Veritable Alternative event at The Polish Club will run from 6.30 pm to 11pm, but there is a limited capacity. Moving an exhibition from a major museum to a drinking club in 48 hours is obviously going to create difficulties so please bear with us on the night and we apologise in advance for any overcrowding this may cause.

If anyone would like to comment on the cancellation of the exhibition feel free to email the V&A’s director at mark.jones@vam.ac.uk

The original press release….Agitate! Educate! Organise! - Friday 25 Feb 2005 at the V&A. 6.30pm-10.00pm. Whether it's the underground band The Others 'guerrilla gigging' on the tube, or spoken word performers Tell Tales turning story telling on its head, young British writers and musicians are finding new ways to present their ideas. Agitate! Educate! Organise! at the V&A celebrates this new wave of social protest, observation and documentary in the arts with spoken word performances, poetry slamming and impromptu gigs around the museum. Controversial female voice, Helen Walsh, and Whitbread prize-winner Patrick Neate, will read from their latest works, while Courttia Newland, Nii Parkes and six authors from the Tell Tales crew will be performing their unique short stories, each accompanied by specially composed scores. The Others will be performing in the V&A's beautiful galleries and their film 'Guide to Guerrilla Gigging' will run throughout the evening. Main entrance performance 7.45pm then Lecture Theatre onstage 8.45pm

The cancellation press release…FRIDAY LATE CANCELLED 25TH FEBRUARY With regret, the V&A is cancelling the Friday Late on 25th February. We have been surprised by the incredibly high level of interest in this event. We have been told by our security, health and safety advisers that when the numbers reach this high level for a single event with limited capacity, there is a danger of severe overcrowding and it is extremely difficult to guarantee safety. To avoid any risk to the public or the Museum's collections, we have therefore taken the decision to cancel the event. We apologise for any disappointment this will cause.

WE WON AN AWARD!

At last night's NME Brat Awards The Others were presented with The John Peel Award for Innovation - it's very nice and very heavy - we're very proud. I also really enjoyed the The Laurie Arms pub gig before the nme awards it was nice to see so many of our 853 going so mental that the bouncers had to form a human wall-barrier - so many tough nuts holding hands in row was a comical sight indeed! Thanks you to everyone who came to that and tp everyone who helped with filming the video for William the day before - especially Fred McPherson (squirrel), Millwall Ant (panda) and (Lady) Alan Jewels (big brown bear) - you are all *special*.

After the awards had finished we went next door to do some photos and press and we even did an interview for the best music show on tv ever "Popworld" - Simon and Miquita were as funny as you'd expect them to be and turned out to be almost as big fans of The Others as I was of their show - which I try and catch if I'm awake that early. I'm not sure if we had been officially on their "to do" list but they asked us anyway and hopefully it will get shown soon. Am trying to drag them down to the V&A museum show on 25th Feb.

Biggest suprise of the night? Finding out that it's possible to sell 3million records (!) worldwide and instead of being caught up in a load of corporate crap, still be lovely, down to earth chaps with no ego at all. Step forward Franz Ferdinand.

Real for the T.V...
The nme awards show will be screened tonight (18th feb) at 11:35 on Channel 4 you will get to see a bit of the performance in the pub where we were presented with the award.

I spoke to Zane Lowe last night and he confirmed that the gonzo interview with me and Dom will definitedly be shown on MTV2 this monday (20th Feb)

Cheers

Johnny
xx

GONZO UPDATE

According to a few sources - thanks sarah - the gonzo interview "was to be aired yesterday (7th) but all the shows have been put back a week so its going to be shown on Monday 14th" Which is today!

Cheers

Johnny
xx

Hey!

Cheers to everyone who bought the album last week in a particularly tough chart week with many already-platinum-selling records (that's 300,000 sales!) still hanging around in the top 40 we eventually charted at:
Number 10 in the Virigin Chart
Number 15 in the HMV Chart
and Number 51 in the national chart

So we're very chuffed.

Our next single will be an Alan Moulder remix/edit of William and will be released on 28th of March. It will be backed with remixes of Lackey from Gang Of Four, and Hedman. We're currently also writing new tracks as b-sides for this release.

Me and Dom recorded an edition of MTV's Gonzo show with Zane Lowe yesterday - it was a lot of fun - managed to promote our favourite brand of mineral water (Abbey Well) and even talk a bit about the album - and there wasn't a puppet in sight! As soon as I know when this will be aired I will post details on here.

Cheers

Johnny
xx

Some interesting new shows:

25th Feb 2005 - Victoria And Albert Museum (London) No support

Press Release:

Agitate! Educate! Organise! - Friday Late at the V&A. 25 February 2005, 6.30pm-10.00pm. Whether it's the underground band The Others 'guerrilla gigging' up a tree, or spoken word performers Tell Tales turning story telling on its head, young British writers and musicians are finding new ways to present their ideas. Agitate! Educate! Organise! at the V&A celebrates this new wave of social protest, observation and documentary in the arts with spoken word performances, poetry slamming and impromptu gigs around the museum. Controversial female voice, Helen Walsh, and Whitbread prize-winner Patrick Neate, will read from their latest works, while Courttia Newland, Nii Parkes and six authors from the Tell Tales crew will be performing their unique short stories, each accompanied by specially composed scores. The Others will be performing in the V&A's beautiful galleries and their film 'Guide to Guerrilla Gigging' will run throughout the evening.

Camden Crawl: We will be playing the Barfly on 10th March for John Kennedy. The whole set should go out live on the radio.

more news soon

Cheers
Johnny
xx

NME Album Review. The Others - The Others January 2005

Within ten minutes of the tape rolling in his first ever NME interview, The Others' frontman Dominic Masters had admitted to a complete stranger that he was an occasional crack-dabbler, that he was very much in love with his transexual Swedish boyfriend Johan, and that he grew up watching his mum deal drugs out of the back door. 

Now, for scientific purposes, let's put that figure into perspective. It takes, on average, 50 minutes to get any of Kings of Leon to admit to having crabs, an hour to get Jet to say anything even vaguely interesting, never mind intelligent, and a solid two hours and a large inflatable penis to elicit any kind of reaction whatsoever from Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. Only Johnny 'The Gob' Borrell can compete with Masters when it comes to yielding pull-quotes in record time and, even then, most of his are cribbed from the Big Book Of Things To Say When You're A Rock Star. Music magazine editors the length of the land can sleep soundly at night in the knowledge of Masters' mere existence, while broadsheet cultural commentators celebrate the day he was beamed from the heavens into an east London hovel, equipped with a ready-made Utopian manifesto of class rebellion, social revolt and really heavy drugs for them to get worked up about.

Yet, amid all the headlines, bold-print quotations and sensationalism, something rather intrinsic has been forgotten - The Music, maaaaan. Masters is first and foremost a rock'n'roll star, and while we like them flawed, sexually confused and eager to sup Drano from wine goblets should duty call, we also prefer them to be, y'know, good.

Would anyone really have cared how many nights a week Dominic took drugs is 'This Is For The Poor' hadn't been one of the most terrifyingly visceral debut singles of recent memory?  Of course they fucking wouldn't. When NME called The Others "Britains most worshipped new band" back in May, what we really meant was "London's most worshipped new band", but just two singles and a handful of UK tours later, we've belatedly been proved right. And guess what? It had bugger all to do with crack, smack and the editorial headaches caused by Dominic's loose tongue.

The Others reckon their eponymous debut album is the 'Definitely Maybe' of the noughties and will shift at least 100,000 copies, making them bona fide superstars by 2006. While the sight of Dominic shambling onstage at the Brit Awards to collect yet another statuette from a grinning Nell McAndrew before holding up a piece of paper with "STONED - CHEERS!" scribbled on it by way of acceptance speech is one we'd gladly whore our own mother to see, we won't be holding our breath any time soon. Yet it's difficult to escape the creeping suspicion that The Others' time is indeed now. With The Libertines officially defunct, there's a rather large cultural void marked "Hearts And Minds Of The Nation's Yoof" needing filling, and with Franz Ferdinand a shade too arch and Razorlight a shade too contrived, you suspect that this may just be the album to do it.

It's certainly constructed that way. There's nothing too complex or alienating about anything on this record, it is lowest common denominator rock'n'roll painted in broad primary coloured brushstrokes and peppered not with fudged poetry or clever turns of phrase, bit with stark, intentionally-unsubtle slogans. What The Ordinary Boys spent a whole album's worth of fannying about trying to say in mixed metaphors and similes, Masters nails in one with the opening lyrical gambit of 'Lackey'. Sounding like John Lydon gargling piss and razorblades, he snarls, "I don't wanna be a lackey in a job that doesn't pay/I don't wanna have to listen to you today/I don't wanna sell my soul to the man today/I don't wanna throw it all away". The facts that the chorus is made up entirely of the phrase "Chica-Chica-Chicaaaaaoooow!" and the singer couldn't carry a tune with a forklift simply add to the overwhelming punkness of it all.

It's a trick that's repeated on the Blur-esque frenzy of 'William' and the weirdly sentimental 'Almanac'. It's bewilderingly simple, relentlessly effective, and yes, you and your mates could do it yourselves. That's the whole point after all.

Class dissention is as much a part of The Others' ethos as Class As, and it predictably plays a pretty huge role on the record. That particular can of worms is still squirming but, no matter what you make of Dominic's opinion of the middle class and its irrelevance to anything The Others do, it's hard not to get caught up in the sheer fury and bluster of the quiet-loud-fucking-apocalyptic-quiet-again construct of 'This Is For The Poor' or the demented rockabilly bass rumble of 'Psychovison', even if Daddy's got the jag waiting outside to pick you up after the gig's finished. Like Oasis before them The Others both represent vindication for those fans whose mums genuinely"dealt from a terraced house", and provide a sense of slummed romance for those who aren't very sure what a terraced house actually is.

Yet for all the snarling and class-conscious teeth-gnashing - and believe us, being a middle class fan of The Others is as about as masochistic a pastime as you can get - the simple fact is that by the end of the year, these songs will no longer be the exclusive property of The Poor TM. After all, it's the middle-class kids who are in most dire need of The Others' bilious punk rock; at least the poor kids don't have Keane fighting their corner.

Yet it's not all sledgehammer sloganeering; this album is also a shameless tugger of heartstrings, from the longing, Cure-esque bass hooks and tales owner-fatal over-indulgence of 'How I Nearly lost You' - "I put my fingers on your wrist to check your pulse to see if you're alive" - to the awwww-inspiring assertion on 'Johan' that "I still love you to bits/Despite the things you do". Then there's 'Community 853', the band's heartfelt tribute to their fanatical followers. Its juddering new-wave guitars and nagging melody provide one of the album's highlights but when Dominic sings, "I'm not looking for a leader/I hate the trendy crowd/We're a rag-bag collective/I like that way for now", you can't help but pretend there's something in your eye; even the most naive of fans must surely know that he won't be able to answer 120 text messages a day forever.

The album ends with 'Darren, Daniel, Dave', a black dirge dedicated to three friends of Dominic who did too much, too young and "are all dead now". In that first interview way back in May, its author confessed to us that he was terrified of being the next alliterative addition to that macabre list. The album's mere existence is proof that someone upstairs had different things in mind for Dominic Masters. That it's as good as it is serves to illustrate that even in this day and age, there are still rock'n'roll bands whose hands are worth placing our life in. 8/10

by Barry Nicolson

I can announce the support bands for next week's mini-tour are as follows:

8th Feb 2005 - Brighton Concorde 2
Support from Brakes (British Sea Power/Electric Soft Parade "supergroup") and Cherubs

10th Feb 2005 - Nottingham Rock City
Support from Agent Blue and Cherubs

11th Feb 2005 - Liverpool University
Support from The Cribs and Cherubs

12th Feb 2005 - Glasgow Garage
Support from The Cribs and Cherubs

13th Feb 2005 - London Astoria
Supporting The Ordinary Boys
Support from Eastern Lane and The Subways

Thank you again for another wonderful tour - the word certainly seems to be spreading every gig was either sold out or very close to selling out and after struggling to be heard for two years it's wonderful to think that there are now so many people who "get us".

Thanks, gratitude and admiration of the highest order also deserves to go out to everyone who bought Lackey in the first week of release and helped acheive our highest ever chart entry. We were stunned to see that it was Number 14 in the midweeks and were ecstatic when it finally came to rest at Number 21!

Thank you everyone.

Cheers, Johnny xx

NME Review Of First Album

THE OTHERS - THE OTHERS

Within ten minutes of the tape rolling in his first ever NME interview, The Others' frontman Dominic Masters had admitted to a complete stranger that he was an occasional crack-dabbler, that he was very much in love with his transexual Swedish boyfriend Johan, and that he grew up watching his mum deal drugs out of the back door. 

Now, for scientific purposes, let's put that figure into perspective. It takes, on average, 50 minutes to get any of Kings of Leon to admit to having crabs, an hour to get Jet to say anything even vaguely interesting, never mind intelligent, and a solid two hours and a large inflatable penis to elicit any kind of reaction whatsoever from Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. Only Johnny 'The Gob' Borrell can compete with Masters when it comes to yielding pull-quotes in record time and, even then, most of his are cribbed from the Big Book Of Things To Say When You're A Rock Star. Music magazine editors the length of the land can sleep soundly at night in the knowledge of Masters' mere existence, while broadsheet cultural commentators celebrate the day he was beamed from the heavens into an east London hovel, equipped with a ready-made Utopian manifesto of class rebellion, social revolt and really heavy drugs for them to get worked up about.

Yet, amid all the headlines, bold-print quotations and sensationalism, something rather intrinsic has been forgotten - The Music, maaaaan. Masters is first and foremost a rock'n'roll star, and while we like them flawed, sexually confused and eager to sup Drano from wine goblets should duty call, we also prefer them to be, y'know, good.

Would anyone really have cared how many nights a week Dominic took drugs is 'This Is For The Poor' hadn't been one of the most terrifyingly visceral debut singles of recent memory?  Of course they fucking wouldn't. When NME called The Others "Britains most worshipped new band" back in May, what we really meant was "London's most worshipped new band", but just two singles and a handful of UK tours later, we've belatedly been proved right. And guess what? It had bugger all to do with crack, smack and the editorial headaches caused by Dominic's loose tongue.

The Others reckon their eponymous debut album is the 'Definitely Maybe' of the noughties and will shift at least 100,000 copies, making them bona fide superstars by 2006. While the sight of Dominic shambling onstage at the Brit Awards to collect yet another statuette from a grinning Nell McAndrew before holding up a piece of paper with "STONED - CHEERS!" scribbled on it by way of acceptance speech is one we'd gladly whore our own mother to see, we won't be holding our breath any time soon. Yet it's difficult to escape the creeping suspicion that The Others' time is indeed now. With The Libertines officially defunct, there's a rather large cultural void marked "Hearts And Minds Of The Nation's Yoof" needing filling, and with Franz Ferdinand a shade too arch and Razorlight a shade too contrived, you suspect that this may just be the album to do it.

It's certainly constructed that way. There's nothing too complex or alienating about anything on this record, it is lowest common denominator rock'n'roll painted in broad primary coloured brushstrokes and peppered not with fudged poetry or clever turns of phrase, bit with stark, intentionally-unsubtle slogans. What The Ordinary Boys spent a whole album's worth of fannying about trying to say in mixed metaphors and similes, Masters nails in one with the opening lyrical gambit of 'Lackey'. Sounding like John Lydon gargling piss and razorblades, he snarls, "I don't wanna be a lackey in a job that doesn't pay/I don't wanna have to listen to you today/I don't wanna sell my soul to the man today/I don't wanna throw it all away". The facts that the chorus is made up entirely of the phrase "Chica-Chica-Chicaaaaaoooow!" and the singer couldn't carry a tune with a forklift simply add to the overwhelming punkness of it all.

It's a trick that's repeated on the Blur-esque frenzy of 'William' and the weirdly sentimental 'Almanac'. It's bewilderingly simple, relentlessly effective, and yes, you and your mates could do it yourselves. That's the whole point after all.

Class dissention is as much a part of The Others' ethos as Class As, and it predictably plays a pretty huge role on the record. That particular can of worms is still squirming but, no matter what you make of Dominic's opinion of the middle class and its irrelevance to anything The Others do, it's hard not to get caught up in the sheer fury and bluster of the quiet-loud-fucking-apocalyptic-quiet-again construct of 'This Is For The Poor' or the demented rockabilly bass rumble of 'Psychovison', even if Daddy's got the jag waiting outside to pick you up after the gig's finished. Like Oasis before them The Others both represent vindication for those fans whose mums genuinely"dealt from a terraced house", and provide a sense of slummed romance for those who aren't very sure what a terraced house actually is.

Yet for all the snarling and class-conscious teeth-gnashing - and believe us, being a middle class fan of The Others is as about as masochistic a pastime as you can get - the simple fact is that by the end of the year, these songs will no longer be the exclusive property of The Poor TM. After all, it's the middle-class kids who are in most dire need of The Others' bilious punk rock; at least the poor kids don't have Keane fighting their corner.

Yet it's not all sledgehammer sloganeering; this album is also a shameless tugger of heartstrings, from the longing, Cure-esque bass hooks and tales owner-fatal over-indulgence of 'How I Nearly lost You' - "I put my fingers on your wrist to check your pulse to see if you're alive" - to the awwww-inspiring assertion on 'Johan' that "I still love you to bits/Despite the things you do". Then there's 'Community 853', the band's heartfelt tribute to their fanatical followers. Its juddering new-wave guitars and nagging melody provide one of the album's highlights but when Dominic sings, "I'm not looking for a leader/I hate the trendy crowd/We're a rag-bag collective/I like that way for now", you can't help but pretend there's something in your eye; even the most naive of fans must surely know that he won't be able to answer 120 text messages a day forever.

The album ends with 'Darren, Daniel, Dave', a black dirge dedicated to three friends of Dominic who did too much, too young and "are all dead now". In that first interview way back in May, its author confessed to us that he was terrified of being the next alliterative addition to that macabre list. The album's mere existence is proof that someone upstairs had different things in mind for Dominic Masters. That it's as good as it is serves to illustrate that even in this day and age, there are still rock'n'roll bands whose hands are worth placing our life in.

by Barry Nicolson

LACKEY SINGLE RELEASED 17th Jan 2005
You Can pre-order Lackey now from HMV by clicking here.

Three formats:
CD:Lackey (Album Version)/King Prawn £1:99
7”:Lackey (Radio Edit)/Neil Armstrong £0:99
DVD:Lackey (Video)/ Guerrilla Guide To Gigging Part 2 (Abbey Road) £2:99

The Others’ debut album released 31st Jan 2005-01-10 You can pre-order it from Amazon where it is only £8:99 by clicking here.

LACKEY REVIEWS:

NME TRACK OF THE WEEK!

Sorry dullards: they’re not going to go away you know. Light a fire on the hillsides and spread the word to the neighbouring villages: The Others are set to release their third single and it’s a cracker!

Having already incurred the wrath of the slow-witted with loopy class rant ‘This Is For The Poor’ and pro-Pete psalm ‘Stan Bowles’, Dominic Masters and his bedraggled crew continue their warped care-in-the-community programme with anti-wage-slave diatribe ‘Lackey’. “But he can’t sing and they look shit!” whine the ‘real’ music caucus, sheltering behind their Buffalo Springfield box-sets. Quit quacking, gang! Because what you have to realise is that while every dive bar on the planet is crawling with Darkness-esque spandex rockers and – worse – gurning DJ’s, only Blighty could produce a band consisting of an ageing goth, a skinhead guitarist (called, erm, Jimmy Lager) and a singer who, as well as looking like he uses his nose as a snack dispenser, regularly smokes crack and has a transsexual boyfriend called Johan.

Better still, ‘Lackey’ is The Others’ best tune yet, a corkscrew in the forehead of feeble Keane fans everywhere crammed with crackling bass and fuzz-guitars, offset by Dom’s deranged anti-annual assessment lyrics: ‘I don’t want to be a lackey in a job/ Want to escape for a while/ Get a new idea!’. Proof positive that the need for The Others’ pro-confrontation spirit in 2005 is all consuming.
PM

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From www.whisperinandholerin.com – 8/10
During January 2004, Razorlight's Johnny Borrell gave that infamous interview where he suggested his debut album would be "better than Dylan" or words to that effect. Immdiately, we scoffed long and loud. Who was this young whippersnapper? It'll be fun savaging his album when it does come out, we thought.Of course, while making comparisons with Mr.Zimmerman proved entirely redundant when "Up All Night" did finally appear, Borrell still got the last laugh. It was a fine album, full of charisma and great tunes and this writer recently voted it inside his personal Top 30 of 2004. For all his 'ex-Libertine' cred, it seemed Mouth Almighty Johnny wouldn't need to trade on his contacts after all.And, approximately 12 months on, it looks like we're going to have to do a similar word-eating job where another Libertines acolyte is concerned. Initially, I admit, we were suspicious of THE OTHERS round W&H Towers. Dominic Masters was another outspoken mate of Peter Doherty's and wrapped up in that whole 'London's Burning' thing the dear old NME were thrusting into our midst. Bah humbug, we thought. This lot are bound to be crap.Then their second single "Stan Bowles" hit the stereo. The moment of truth, we thought. And, despite all our reservations, it wasn't half bad. Ragged, but glorious, its' oik-like power was infectious and buoyed up by an illuminating pair of interviews Masters granted us over the next few weeks. That he walked it like he talked it was undeniable and when we caught one of their typically incendiary live shows at London's Cargo it seemed we were staring burgeoning greatness in the face.So it's fitting that I'm writing about The Others' soon-come third single "Lackey" on New Year's day. For whether anyone likes it or not, 2005 is going to be a major year for this band and this single is the obvious trailblazer for an album that will be big news.

Crucially, too, "Lackey" is the one that shows The Others amount to more than just Dominic's charismatic, Dickensian presence. Driven along by another of those metronomic, Peter Hook-style basslines from Johnny Others, it demonstrates The Others' musical wing are far more than simply muso-also rans orbiting their leader's creative sun. Before Masters even makes an appearance, we're treated to Jimmy Lager's spidery guitar work and Martin Oldham's steamhammer drumming and the end results are even more exhilarating and persuasive than "Stan Bowles."Naturally, though, it's ultimately Dominic's weaselly, Bill Sykes-style presence that steals the show. "I don't wanna sell my soul to The Man today, I don't wanna throw it all away," he sneers, absorbing himself in another anthem that's destined to be quintessential Others and a calling card every bit as potent as "This Is For The Poor."Natural selection will ensure 2005 kills off the majority of the 'London's Burning' bandwagon jumpers, but The Others are made of sterner stuff. This much we know. The rest will be made clear when the album arrives. Dominic's already said it'll be this generation's "Definitely Maybe" and at this moment in time you'd be foolish to dismiss the notion as empty rhetoric.
by Tim Peacock

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From Soundgenerator.com:

This is the third single from Poptones luminaries The Others, and another taster from their soon to be released eponymous debut album.
'Lackey' is an angry, messy rant against the drudgery of a nine-to-five lifestyle. A familiar rock'n'roll sentiment perhaps, but one which singer Dominic Masters delivers with a venom and feeling which ring pretty true.

"You know you're bored when you're watching TV on a Friday night" spits the frontman, over a squall of punky guitars and piercing snare. Like the band themselves, this track is noisy, loose, unruly, and utterly brilliant. Bring on the album.~Chris Watkeys

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From Contactmusic.com:

Seeking to consolidate on the lead gained by previous single; 'Stan Bowles' The Others hit a tale of defiance and self belief into the back of the net. They do so via skirting with the mod era, taking the bones of Brit pop and a shade of punk in a manner not dissimilar to contemporaries The Ordinary Boys. This quartet demonstrates an endearing amount of integrity and down to earth grit that has become rarer than the post of television scriptwriter.
Lyrically, Lackey is mundane yet strangely captivating as The Others decry the rat race and champion the plight of soulful integrity;
“I don’t wanna be a lackey in a job that doesn’t pay.
I don’t wanna have to listen you…. Today.
I don’t wanna have to sell my soul to the man… Today.”
The sincere vocalist Dominic Masters bellows out these lyrics with heart and beckons in society's underdog, with his empathy and controlled anger. This quartet is beginning to rise above fellow new guitar bands with their old fashioned honesty and no frills intensity
David Adair

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From Manchester Online:
The Others - Lackey (Poptones/Mercury)
Richard Cheetham

FOLLOWING the fragmented and low-budget recordings of This Is For The Poor and Stan Bowles, The Others return with a major label record deal.

It is all too easy to despise singer Dominic Masters for his larger than life ego, or for his ‘from the streets’ philosophy, but it’s a far greater challenge to find faults with his band’s music.

Although Masters is clearly the weak point in The Others, even his lackadaisical vocal delivery and tinny voice cannot spoil the good work of the band behind him, and Lackey bounces along at a likeable pace.
Masters' intent may have been political odes to the working classes, but the end-product is witty, creative angular guitar pop rather than political propaganda.

He writes with the mind of a man more naturally aligned to boardroom meetings than council estates, yet his band could still become one of the most important of 2005.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From CDTIMES.co.uk
If it was possible to turn Britain upside down and shake out all the bands that mastered the post punk sound, The Others would land with a momentous thud. Even in their new single Lackey without lead singer Dominic Masters’ pronounced vocals, the band drive an amphetamine pace with intelligent riffs and slamming drum beats to create something to run the race with fellow rockers Bloc Party or The Rakes, but maybe not as grown up. Dominic Masters keeps his integrity in the lyrics by appealing to the outsiders of the world, and in this instance, the outsiders are those who don’t want to work the typical nine to five. The conviction in the lyrics are convincing and therefore inspiring as he sings I don’t want to be in a Lackey in a job that doesn’t pay. It’s a song to keep the idle in bed after the alarm goes off in the morning.
by Michelle Manning

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From soundsxp.com:
The Others LackeyPoptones/Vertigo
Article written by Ged MDec 14, 2004

Setting aside the juvenile glamorising of Class As, the Others’ second single ‘Stan Bowles’ was a pretty spiffing single, chocka with teenage spleen and with a driving rhythm. ‘Lackey’, released on 17 January, is another rabble-rousing song of the sort that the Libertines once made, with a brilliant guitar riff and building to a great climax. Sadly then, I have to report that it is damaged beyond repair by Dominic Masters’ lyrics. With a chutzpah worthy of a bloke with a massive record deal from Vertigo Records, he sneers with 4th form spite: “I don’t wanna be a lackey in a job that doesn’t pay…I don’t want to sell my soul to the Man today”. When was the last time you heard “The Man” referenced in a song? This ridiculous bollocks undercuts the song’s otherwise neat pop structure. You can only feel embarrassed for them.

More Live Dates added for Feb - forthcoming live dates:

JANUARY 2005
Support on all dates from The Rakes & The Ludes:

15-Jan-05 Newcastle University
16-Jan-05 Aberdeen lemon tree
17-Jan-05 Edinburgh liquid rooms - also playing an instore gig tonight at 5pm. The address is:
Avalanche Records
63 Cockburn Street
Edinburgh
EH1 1BS

18-Jan-05 Manchester academy 3
19-Jan-05 Leeds Cockpit - also playing an instore gig tonight at 5pm. The address is:
Jumbo Records
5/6 Upper Mall
St John centre
Leeds
LS2 8LQ

21-Jan-05 Sheffield Leadmill
22-Jan-05 Norwich Arts Centre
23-Jan-05 Bristol Fleece
24-Jan-05 Oxford Zodiac
25-Jan-05 Birmingham Academy 2
26-Jan-05 Portsmouth Wedgewood Rooms
27-Jan-05 Leicester Charlotte

(ALBUM RELEASE)
31-Jan-05 - Virgin (instore gig and signing) - Oxford Street, London
01-Feb-05 - HMV (instore gig and signing) - Liverpool
more dates for this week t.b.a check back for more details.

Febuary 2005
supports tbc

08/02/05 - Brighton Concorde 2
10/02/05 - Nottingham Rock City
11/02/05 - Liverpool University
12/02/05 - Glasgow Garage
13-02-05 - London - Astoria -NME BRATS SHOW - supporting The Ordinary Boys

Cheers

Johnny
Xx

Thanks to everyone who came to the playback last night - it was nice to be djing again - good, honest, self indulgent fun!

Here's the Dj set I played:

Johnny's Set:
Fun Boy Three - Farmyard Connection
The Others - In The Background
Psychedelic Furs - Shadow In My Heart
Marion - Sleep
The Others - Lackey
Elastica - Blue
Primal Scream - Kowalski
----
The Others - Stan Bowles
These Animal Men - Too Sussed
Cribs - Watch Trick
Mansun - Negative
----
Cribs - Another Number
Jesus And Mary Chain - Living End
The Others - William
Nick Cave & Kylie Minogue - Where The Wild Roses Grow
----
Jimmy Lager's set:
Placebo - Nancy Boy
Libertines - Up The Bracket
Blondie - Atomic
Teenage Fanclub - Sparky's Dream
Pixes - Debaser
The Others - Almanac
The Cure - Boys Don't Cry
Clash - London Calling
Babyshambles - Kilamangiro
----
Johnny's set
Whipping Boy - When We Were Young
Rakes - 22 Grand Job
Paddingtons - Some Old Girl
The Others - Full Album Playback

Obviously, I wouldn't normally do such a full on Others set but seeing as it was a special occasion...

Cheers

Johnny
xx