The Reytons are a four-piece band from South Yorkshire, with Jonny Yerrell on vocals, Joe O’Brien (lead guitar), Lee Holland (bass) and Drummer Jamie Todd. Since the release of the album – What’s Rock and Roll? – on 20th January the band have been travelling up and down the UK in a van appearing in as many record stores as possible to help boost sales. What’s amazing is that they released the album independently with their proud motto being ‘No Label, No Backing, All Reytons’. The work these guys have put into this project has been phenomenal. On Wednesday 25th they topped the midweek album chart and by Friday it was confirmed as the number one album.
There had already been three songs from the album released as singles: Avalanche, Cash In Hand and Fake ID’s and One More Reason, but to do the album justice I have did a short review for each of the 12 tracks, with some background information on each one.
- 15 Minutes in the Algorithm. This song highlights the throwaway cultures surrounding Tik Tok’s 15 minute celebrities selling their soul for a moment in the spotlight.
- Was written very early on in the recording process, and is a cocktail of three completely different instrumentals mashed together.
- This was the first single from the album and has went down well during the recent UK tour. First played in the Netherlands.
- Love in Transaction. The band say that this is a bit of a throwback to what they have done from the beginning, talking about things that we’ve seen and places we’ve been.
- Little Bastards. This song observes the state of the broken foster system in the UK, and shines a light on the paths available to kids who don’t have that solid support network around them.
- Cash In Hand and Fake ID’s. The second single from the album released for the tour in November. The most ‘poppy’ song on the album and was the first part of a video trilogy focusing on the mishaps of a family. The bands videos were produced on a shoestring budget with family members and friends appearing in them.
- A song about Wombwell Working Men’s club, and highlights the highs and lows around these venues.
- One More Reason. The final single before the album came out and the closing part of the music video trilogy. Shot partly in Shrewsbury prison with locals as extras, including buskers and drug dealers.
- Monthly Subscription. This song looks into how people are making money from websites like onlyfans. There are so many angles, opinions and morals inside the track.
- An excellent track with immense guitar rifs and great lyrics. The band played around using fretless basses throwing the timing of the track about.
- It’s a Fuck About. Jonny Yerrell worked on this one by himself initially, with no intentions for it to land up on the album.
- The sold out UK tour was called after this song and it could have been the first track on the album.
In an interview after hearing the news that they had a number one album, the band said that it was a victory for the working class. After travelling to London for an interview on the album chart show the band immediately returned to Sheffield, having to sit on the floor of the train on the way home with a beer and a sandwich. That’s proper rock and roll! Looking forward to the next number one album already.
Review by Alan Brown
