There’s a funny sort of balance with online celebrity status… somewhere between being the number-one Google result for an everyday word like Metros, and having your own Wikipedia page… this is the balance that South-East-London indie five-piece The Metros have achieved in their drawing of inspiration from 70s punk legends, and at the time of my writing nearly 8000 people are friends with the band.

These are all people who have already picked out The Metros from the murk of metropolitan yob-rockers, each band desperately struggling to get hold of even the bottom rung of the music industry ladder… And now 1965 Records, the label home to The View and The Draytones as well as other well-established but less well known acts, has stepped forward for the release of Education Part Two, a slightly-less-than-subtle dig at high school exams and the lowly outcome of those who choose not to play by the rules. Its the sequel to the apparently non-existent Education Part One…

Perhaps the cheap and cheerful image of the laddish twenty-something ASBOs is just a cleverly-crafted facade, but it seems to be an image that wins over record company bosses who have signed them to three dates on the MTV Spanking New Tour 2008 next month in support of The Rascals and The Pigeon Detectives. Quite right too - not only does their rough’n'ready garage style work wonders as a first impression on their MySpace, they make for a very exciting and extremely tight live band with lead vocalist Sauls boozy stage leaps… and even in the smoky darkness of London’s Astoria you can picture them sitting next to you in a Peckham greasy-spoon caff aside full-Englishes and a stack of demo CDs ready to infiltrate more eager audiences.

the metros - education part two.mp3
myspace.com/themetrosband