Kent, where indie rockers Rosemary hail from, is a divided county. East of the River Medway and you’re a Man of Kent; west, a Kentish Man. The division possibly originated when the Jutes, who settled in Thanet over 1,500 years ago, moved into what we know as Kent, labelling one part East Centingas and the other West Centingas.

Fast forward a few hundred years later and, so the story goes, the Men of Kent put up more of a fight to William the Conqueror than the Kentish Men, who meekly threw in the towel. Following this, according to Alan Major in A New Discovery of Kent Dialect at any rate, the courage of the Men of Kent was celebrated while Kentish Men were dissed as lily-livered. Rosemary come from Dartford, the heart of Kentish Man territory.

They play with the abandon of fellow outsiders The Young Knives combined with the passion of Chatham’s one and only Billy Childish. Not so coincidentally, they’ve already recorded with Buff Medways producer Jim Riley. ‘Benjamin’s Ego’ should help propel their name to nestle on your lips, whilst restoring pride to Kentish Man in the process.
(4¾/5)