The Good Suns

Lembit stars in a pop video by The Good Suns. - The Guardian

Former Liberal Democrat MP Lembit Opik is the star of a new music video by unsigned band The Good Suns.

The 46-year-old is seen mouthing the lyrics to the group's new track Pop Wound and dancing on a roof terrace.

The Good Suns' frontman Bobby McBrierty admitted they initially had no idea their director had approached Mr Opik to star in their video.

"It was quite a shock to see the finished product, but pretty hilarious," he said.

'Horrified and entertained'

Mr Opik, who was trending on Twitter on Tuesday, told BBC News that he enjoyed the experience and was not fazed by any criticism his role in the video might create.

"Whatever people think about me, there's no doubt that the world is talking about this video."

He said he was asked to appear in the video because the producers "felt my profile and my outlook fitted the song quite well".

The former politician, who said he manages three bands himself, added it had been "quite flattering" to be asked.

"I had a lot of faith in the producers and it [the video] came out as just as we had hoped it would, a bit tongue-in-cheek."

He said he hoped the video would "help raise the profile of the band and get them more gigs" as he is a huge fan of their music.

The four-piece band have never actually met the former MP - who lost his seat in the last general election, but McBrierty said he has chatted to him on the phone.

"He was really nice and he praised the song and the band. He said he just wanted people to listen to our music."

McBrierty explained the idea to use Mr Opik was all down to director Christopher Poole who "somehow seemed to pull this idea together".


The Good Suns are hoping to get a record deal after all the publicity
He added: "We didn't really know what we were getting into, until it was more or less finished. It's not your conventional pop video, that's for sure."

The story has generated a lot of publicity for the relatively unknown group, who formed last year, which the singer admitted had been surprising.

"We didn't foresee this, we just thought we'd make a funny video that people would be horrified and entertained by. The next thing you know, it's become a big news story."

The Good Suns have yet to sign a record deal, although McBrierty said it "would be good to get one".

Mr Opik recently failed to become the Lib Dem candidate for Mayor of London at next year's elections.

Aside from his political career, he is also known for his engagement to Cheeky Girl Gabriela Irimia and for appearing in the ITV reality TV show I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!

This is not the first time that a figure from the political world has appeared in in a pop video.

Former Labour leader Neil Kinnock appeared in Tracey Ullman's 1984 video for My Guy - a cover of Madness's My Girl.

And in 1998, former Liberal Democrat MP Sir Cyril Smith featured in an advert for Bananarama's greatest hits album, alongside Geoffrey Dickens, Norman St John Stevas and Merlyn Rees. - BBC

'Pheonix Nights' was the first thought that sprung to mind upon entering the Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club. An ancient and broken light-up heart adorned the stage, someone hacked away at a wall cable with a knife and there was garlic bread on the bar (OK, maybe the last one isn’t true, but it’s still a pretty outdated yet intriguing place).

First on stage for the Lyle and Scott curated gig were The Good Suns, an up-and-coming indie four piece who won a competition to gain the support slot. Although still in their infancy, the training wheels came off for a short and sweet set full of melodic pop tunes with distorted guitars.

Second on the bill were Theme Park, who looked so modest on stage performing, which must have been really hard because every song they have sounds like a single and they must know it. At least one of them must be mentally visualising themselves crotch thrusting and setting their instrument on fire, there’s got to be some cockiness somewhere (and so there should be). A truly talented band that will get you dancing and you won’t even know it.

The modesty was thrown away though with the arrival of the sharply dressed Spector, who came out all guns blazing with a stage presence so intense it would have made Slipknot blush. "We’ve had some good news, we are in the sound of BBC 2012," Fred Macpherson muses. "But we’ve been told there’s been a mistake, so there’s going to be a recount...our lawyer is at the back to discuss refunds."

Comedy isn’t the only surprise of the night though, as Dev Hynes (Lightspeed Champion, Blood Orange) joins them onstage for an insane guitar solo during penultimate song ‘Chevvy Thunder’, making jaws drop and ears bleed. They end with ‘Never Fade Away’, a bit of a disappointment after the chaotic show of the previous song. The ballad-esque qualities drag on with awkward spells of hand clapping and it never reaches a climax, just a slow and exhausting conclusion is drawn. Although the finisher was tedious and the set was only 8 songs long, the impression was made and the hype justified.

BBC Sound of 2012: If the recount doesn’t go well for Spector, I’m sure Theme Park would be happy to take their place. - The 405

When we came across The Good Suns earlier this month we knew we’d stumbled across something a little bit special. Made up of Bobby McBrierty, Adam Smith, Greg Sullivan & Stew Capper, the London based four piece are set to support Spector (a band we LOVE) this December. We caught up with Bobby earlier this month to find out a little more..

So.. Tell us a little about yourselves..

Well we all live in London and play in The Good Suns. We like the same music as each other but have slightly different hobbies; Stew is a great photographer, Adam is into his Formula 1, I help my friends make short films and Greg is a wannabe scriptwriter and Beatles addict. Greg did Movember this year, which was great but I’m not sure anyone noticed. Maybe next year he should think about doing Moctober as well…

How did the bands name come about, what brought The Good Suns together and where did it all begin?

I came up with about 20 names that I thought were OK and Adam rejected every single one. Then he came up with one name and I was exhausted so I said yes. The Good Suns isn’t a pun or anything it’s just a name we liked the look of.

Describe your sound in three words..

Dynamic Melodic Goodness

Your music has quite a retro feel, who’s your musical inspiration?

I love Elvis Costello and The Smiths. We’re massive fans of Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti at the moment. We’ll probably make an album like Before Today that’s full of pop songs but not restricted to one particular sound or genre. It’s good to be imaginative and they definitely are.

You’re supporting Spector in December, how did this opportunity arise?

Greg entered us into a Lyle & Scott new band competition and we lost! Then a week later, on my Birthday, Lyle & Scott offered us a dream gig supporting Spector and Theme Park at Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club. It was roller coaster of a week!

If you could pick any band to support, who would it be and why?

Warpaint. Umm… yeah, there music is really good and urrr… we just fancy them.

Favourite album of all time?

If you’re talking about value for money it’s probably Stadium Arcadium cos it’s the longest and there’s at least 6 good songs on there. My favourite album however is Coles Corner by Richard Hawley. I don’t think our music would have the surf sound if it wasn’t for that album and songs like Hotel Room.

To which music label would you most like to be signed?

Rough Trade. When I first started to really get into music I listened to The Strokes, The Libertines and The Smith, when I realised they all had the same Rough Trade logo on I was sold for life.

Where can we hear/see you next?

We will be touring England in January. Dates are TBC and will be up on our blog and facebook page soon. If you’re in London come to The Wilmington Arms on the 9th December for our Christmas Party gig. In the meantime you can see our music video on YouTube for our debut single Before I Sleep.

Why should readers of Rhublah listen to your music?

Our music is charming and marvellous and it’s about time someone noticed. - Rhublar

Name: The Good Suns
Location: London, UK
Genre: Indie Pop
Described in 5 words: Slick, catchy indie-pop, done well.
For Fans of: Pulp and The Kinks - The 405

Last night we were down at the Working Men’s Club in Bethnal Green for our final instalment of Curated By Lyle and Scott for 2011.

Competition winners The Good Suns were first up and hit the stage with their infectious and melodic indie tunes that soon had the crowd shuffling forwards to get more involved in their set.

The Good Suns put on a great show and really set the tone of the night, their light hearted rhythms had everyone loosened up and ready for Theme Park.

There can’t have been even one stone cold hipster heart that didn’t begin to warm and soften towards Theme Park. Singer Miles has a fantastic voice, it’s smooth and calming and yet strong and commanding of attention. This is accompanied by tropical influenced melodies that are catchy, rolling and nostalgic, it made their enjoyable set slip by in what seemed like only a couple of minutes.

Spector took to the stage and got down to business by playing out some of their popular songs like the newly released Grey Shirt and Tie. At one point Spector were joined by the impossibly hip Blood Orange- AKA Dev Hynes (he has written for the likes of Florence and The Chemical Brothers) for two exciting collaborative tracks. The band finished with the catchy ‘Fade Away’ that they performed for Jools Holland a couple of weeks ago. Spector put on a great performance and Fred fulfils the role of eccentric and charismatic frontman comfortably (he treated the crowd to a little spoken word before kicking off with the music). We can see why these guys have been shortlisted for the BBC’s Sound Of 2012 award with their easy listening tracks and ‘accidental star’ qualities. - Lyle and Scott

Curated By Lyle and Scott support slot winners The Good Suns have hit the headlines with articles on BBC, NME, Telegraph, Guardian Music, and The Sun. So what’s the media furore about?

The band from London released the video from their latest track Pop Wound, and it features none other than ex Lib Dem MP Lembit Opik.

The ironic video has had 40,000 views in less than a week- not bad for an unsigned band!

We’ve been backing these guys since they supported Theme Park and Spector at Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club in December 2011 for Curated By Lyle and Scott. Catch a review of the gig, or watch our video from the night. - Lyle and Scott

On Tuesday, London indie foursome The Good Suns found themselves trending on Twitter and emblazoned across the homepages of The Guardian, New Statesman and NME.COM. How? Dead simple - they uploaded their video for their new single 'Pop Wound' in which they'd persuaded former Liberal Democrat MP and serial reality TV star Lembit Opik to goon about for the camera.


In the video, Opik, who is more famous for his relationships with ITV weather presenter Sian Lloyd and Gabriela from the Cheeky Girls than for his spell as leader of the Welsh Lib Dems, mimes along to the track and pulls a series of rock star poses, each more cringeworthy than the last.

So how did the band snag Opik, for free as well, to star in their video? I spoke to Bobby McBrierty, the band's frontman, to find out…

Firstly, how did you get in touch with Lembit?
It all pretty much happened through the director Christopher Poole. I think he approached him in a bar and just said "How do you do it?" and Lembit whispered in his ear "Lynx Africa."

When did you first come up with the idea?
We knew we wanted to do something with a sense of humour so we gave complete control to the filmmakers, as all their stuff is great. When we were told about the idea we were in fits of laughter trying to imagine it, I don’t think we ever thought it would happen so we didn’t consider the consequences.

Was he hesitant when you first approached him?
I’m pretty sure he wanted to work with Christopher already. I’ve been told he wasn’t hesitant at all.


Do you think people know him best as a politician or a reality TV star?
I don’t know really, I think the fact he’s both is what makes people interested in him.

Where was the video shot? And how come you guys don't make cameos?
It was shot on top of a block of flats in Greenwich. I think we weren’t in it because we weren’t asked to be. If we had made cameos it would have been awful… more so!

What can you tell NME readers about The Good Suns as a band?
We’re a London-based guitar band and have been together about six months. We’ve played some great gigs lately around the country, playing with Howler the other week was a highlight. Our favourite band is Girls and we also love Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti.

Will you try and get another politician for your next video? Maybe John Prescott?
Probably not, I’m still not sure how we ended up with the first one! - NME

The London quartet have just recently released their debut single 'Shadow/At Last I'm Bored'. Classic guitar songwriting underpins their sound, reminscent of an early Coral, Bees or even The Beatles. The Good Suns manage to create a trademark of their own though; infectious harmonies mix with rambling guitars over taut drums. 'Shadow' is a 3 minute, indie-hook a second kind of track whilst 'At Last I'm Bored' shows off their more soulful side, similar to their previous exploit, Moses and The Black Cats.
For more information go visit their blog at http://thegoodsuns.blogspot.com/ or check out the video for their new single below. - The Indie Blog

The Good Suns are out with their first double A side single, after beating the London live circuit in the past year and quickly conquering a remarkable following for a new band.

Number one A Side ‘Shadow’ showcases James Hearn vocals, here reminiscent of Bob Dylan, and an slightly melancholic R.E.M. sound; top class songwriting skills and a team of passionate musicians make of this first offering from The Good Suns a little indie-pop gem, which will easily stick in your memory and haunt you for a while.

‘At Last I’m Bored’, on the other side, is the perfect complement to ‘Shadow’ to give you a 360 degrees look into these guys’ skills and potential: with Hearn going from Dylan to Morrissey, the track is as infectious as early Smiths and a little ‘sunnier’ than the first. Two faces of the same medal - same material different designs - together forming a unique precious piece of pop music.

The Good Suns may be the much needed proof that pop doesn’t have to come from a Saturday night conveyor belt. Listen to their single, get your copy on February 14th (yes, I do recommend it for a Valentine present if your other half has good taste) and make sure you check out The Good Suns’ FACEBOOK and MYSPACE pages for a gig near you. - Sonic Shocks

The Good Suns are looking to be your next favorite pop band and with a track like "Shadow," they show they can deliver. Creating straight pop with dreamy guitars and great songwriting finds The Good Suns at their finest. They shine well on this track, which they are offering for a free download.

During the month of February The Good Suns will have their first official release in the double A-side of Shadow/At Last I’m Bored. If they continue with their pop influences, guitar work, and songwriting abilities like that of "Shadow," they are sure to find even more fans. Listen and download the track below (click the down arrow on the player to get "Shadow"). - Oh So Fresh Blog

In performing their beautifully crafted, old time pop gems in and around London for the past year, The Good Suns have won a faithful following that have fallen for their dreamy guitar pop.

At the core sits the partnership of James Hearn and Bobby McBrierty - a songwriting duo in the purest sense and meticulous over every word they pen. Their lyrics connect over similar themes of love, lust, and the anxiety of going nowhere fast.

As for their songs...think Hermans Hermits brought bang up to date and hanging out with someone like The La's or maybe even Cinerama. It's all very retro-tinged and jangly and as a result hits you right between the ears. Not overly complicated but ridiculously good, The Good Suns are mining all the best influences to come up with a sound that is uniquely their own.

February sees their first official release in the double A-side of Shadow/At Last I’m Bored.
- The Pop! Stereo