As you may have noticed, GoldenPlec has decided to spread its wings to the land of Bovril, Becks and Brexit, the UK. So we’d like to introduce you to a few of the bands we’ve met so far. First up is Mike Skinner meets Robbie Williams, Madness meets Two Pints of Lager and a Pack of Crisps, Al Murray meets Al Porter. It’s The Rhythm Method.

We chat to The Rhythm Method just as they come to the end of a whirlwind tour of the UK with fellow Londoner Matt Maltese. The First Past the Post tour has just wrapped up with a triumphant homecoming show at The Sebright Arms in East London’s Hackney. With June 8th’s general election on the horizon, given the tour’s name, it’s clear that The Rhythm Method, along with Monsieur Maltese, had a message they wanted to deliver.

"We just wanted to get out and see what people are saying. Apparently you can’t sit around drinking frothy coffee in the London bubble forever,” says Rowan Martin, the man behind the music.

“There’s a lot of heat and anger in the political music scene but not much light. Along with Matt, we wanted to start a bit of a love revolution. To fuse our message with his: as the world caves in, we could take care of each other,” he adds, referencing their song Party Politics and Maltese’s As The World Caves In (both below).

Despite the political overtones, The Rhythm Method don’t consider themselves as a political band, so to say. “We just like to talk about our lives and somehow that might become political. In our book, the best political songs happen by accident. The message is essential but it’s still entertainment.”

As you read this, polls in the UK have already opened, in fact, depending on when you’re reading this, they might be long closed. Despite Rowan’s insistence that the aim of the tour was to start a ‘love revolution’, one particular phrase has become synonymous with the band in recent weeks. 'If you voted Tory, you’re a nonce.' It’s a slogan the band have had plastered across posters and one which frontman Joey Bradbury takes much pleasure in hollering during live shows.

“We’ve seen a big reaction to it, mostly supportive, but with a pinch of abuse here and there. We just wanted to say something bold and direct, it’s about as subtle as a brick through a window.”

You’d be forgiven for thinking that both members would be voting for Labour and Jeremy Corbyn, but not quite. “We’re both voting to keep the Tories out. We’re from South West London, where there are quite a few battleground seats so you have to be tactical. In my case, that means voting Lib Dem.”

At the Sebright Arms gig on Monday, Joey took a moment to portray the feeling among young people in the UK at the moment, expressing his excitement at the reaction they’ve got during the tour and declaring that Labour “are going to fucking do it. We’re gonna win”. Keeping the Tories out of government is something which The Rhythm Method feel is important for a number of reasons, music and creativity included.

“Austerity and conservatism always feed each other, in any walk of life. In the music scene you see a lot of belt-tightening and streamlining. That means venues shut down, rehearsal spaces go, bands don’t form. The industry becomes about safe bets, rather than taking a leap of faith on the weird and wonderful. So the only people that can make music are those already doing it or those that can afford to. Ultimately you’re left with a pretty boring, antiseptic scene.”

Speaking of a possible ‘boring, antiseptic scene’, Rowan becomes animated when discussing bands in recent years playing it far too safe. He speaks of a trend of risk-assessment whereby there’s a lot of music being decided by committee and designed to have maximum appeal. “Then there’s the reaction to that, which is a lot of stuff that seems deliberately obnoxious. We don’t see ourselves in either camp, we want to make something enjoyable but jagged, something that you can’t pleasantly ignore.”

On that note, in a recent interview with The Guardian, the duo said ‘people are going to hate us’. Rowan explains that they like to think they don’t fit in with the abundance of serious music around at the moment. “There’s a lot of minimalism. We want big tunes. All these things make us a bit of a marmite band but we like that.”

A marmite band they may well be, but The Rhythm Method have drawn praise from several corners of the musical world, meeting one of their heroes in Madness’ Suggs and having The Streets’ Mike Skinner produce their most recent single Cruel. Elton John can also be counted as a fan.

“It was great to meet Suggs and get his blessing. He talked about Madness’s philosophy when they first started out and it really chimed with ours. He said it was about mates having fun, talking about their lives and ’socialism with a small S’. We loved that.

"Working with Mike Skinner made total sense as well. He knew exactly what to do with Cruel and added a dub finish to it that we would never have thought of.”

Recalling how the Rhythm Method came about, Rowan recalls the first time he met Joey, watching him do a karaoke rendition of Robbie Williams’ Angels and knowing right away he was a natural performer. Add to that, the fact that Bradbury had a penchant for writing poems and short songs, and they decided to give the music thing a go. “The first song was Home Sweet Home and it went from there. We only started taking it seriously last year, in many ways we still don’t.”

“We take influence from all sorts of things, mostly non-musical. We love sitcoms and talk shows and talk radio. We share a YouTube account and the watch history is a kind of rough guide to The Rhythm Method. Joey watches a lot of wrestling and Joe Rogan podcasts. I watch a lot of ‘Inside the Actor’s Studio’ and George Galloway’s TalkSport show. Somehow the references and phrases all find their way in.

“We have an album essentially written, but we see it as more of a concept album or theatrical show. We have the storyline we just need to go and make it. Before then there’s an EP later this month and a short film coming too…we just want to keep doing the unexpected.”

The problem with e-mail interviews (“We’re even worse on the phone,” says Rowan) is that they rarely offer the chance for any follow-up questions, so we’ll have to save talk of the concept album/theatrical show for another time, perhaps in the lads’ favourite Wetherspoons? “It’s gotta be the Coronet on Holloway Road. Gigantic old art deco cinema with big pictures of Humphrey Bogart to look at while you’re sipping a Woo Woo.”