WHEN they first broke through in 2005, energetic indie band The Ordinary Boys were an exciting prospect alongside contemporaries The Arctic Monkeys and Kaiser Chiefs.

With their mod style, music critics even went so far as to hail the band as natural successors to The Jam.

The first two albums Over The Counterculture and Brassbound were well-received and spawned the number one single, Boys Will Be Boys. Frontman Preston then appeared on reality TV show Celebrity Big Brother in 2006 and the credibility of the band nosedived.

A disastrous third album How to Get Everything You Ever Wanted in Ten Easy Steps followed and the band parted ways in 2008. Preston has since spent the last eight years building a solid reputation as a successful songwriter, having written hits for John Newman and Example and a number one for Olly Murs with Heart Skips A Beat.

Now, The Ordinary Boys are back with new material and a UK tour that visits The Joiners in Southampton on October 24.

New single Four Letter Word is a return to their earlier sound and reformed line-up consists of the original trio – Preston, James Gregory (bass) and Charlie ‘Chuck’ Stanley (drums), plus new member Louis Jones from power-pop band Spectrals on guitar.

Over the last year they have been busy writing and recording their new album and have enlisted Rory Atwell (the Vaccines, Veronica Falls) and MJ (of Hookworms) on production duties and Dan Lancaster (Bring Me The Horizon, Lower Than Atlantis) for mixing.

Preston said:“Hanging out with Louis, all we wanted to talk about were the punk and hardcore bands that had made us pick up guitars and form bands in the first place. I made Spinal Tap-esque phone calls to James and Chuck.

“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.

“We think we have made a really special, exciting record, one that has been fuelled by reunited childhood friendships, new friendships, rediscovery of the records that shaped us, and the drive to create something undeniably great.

“I’ve had the best year of my life making this album and we are so excited to finally be able to share it.”