He's So Proud is quite an unusual beast. On the surface The Wireless seem to be merely obsessed with The Libertines and Carl Barat's straightforward slightly punky songwriting skills. And so, for the first two minutes at least, He's So Proud is little more than a particularly energised pogo through some fairly generic but incredibly well played pop punk.
Particularly noteworthy is the production of Cardiacs mainman Tim Smith who seems to have shined the song perfectly making the bass cut through stunningly which is unusual for this kind of thing. It must also be noted that singer Felix has a particularly pleasing rough edge to his voice, and when he really lets go it elevates him above so many other vocalists trying their luck in this arena.
Come the two minute mark, the song really opens up, giving The Wireless a chance to show that they possess a keen ear for melody, and an itchy trigger finger when it comes to making some flawlessly controlled noise.
B-side The Coward continues down the path travelled by the likes of Libertines and Hard Fi, but also possesses enough edgy keyboards and vocals to set it apart and suggest that The Wireless have enough to put themselves above the myriad bands that sound like this. Perhaps the greatest moment comes via a guitar solo that slips out of anything that could be termed musical. It thrashes wildly and comes up smelling of attitude.
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