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Brought up on a mix of funk and reggae, citing everything from Marley (“he’s god”) to The Verve (“Northern Soul is the law!”) as his influences, McClure’s band, Reverend and the Makers, are a souped-up, synthed-up progression of the northern drawl made famous by Turner and co.

Having waited while his Arctic Monkeys mates hit coffee tables and Tesco Metros across the country,  the lanky, mouthy South Yorkshireman now stands on the cusp of indie stardom ahead of the band's debut album release. Of course, he's already a hero in his native Sheffield.

“A few year’s ago I wrote this poem called ‘See The Truth’ that a few of the kids in Sheffield have got tattooed on their body,” he says, discussing the mythical status he’s acquired back home. “It’s like a code of ethics that informs values. I just got to thinking that nobody basically stands up for anything any more.”

The Iraq war protests? “The greatest fucking mobilisation of people ever that was flatly ignored. But I mean musicians. Damon Albarn and Massive Attack. Who else said anything? My heroes are Lennon, Marley and Strummer, but where are the fuck are these people? Who do you look to for a bit of guidance and meaning?”

But we’ve got Razorlight. Surely that’s enough? “Hah. Like Johnny Borrell saying ‘I wanna crack America with this album’. What? I just wanna write songs and make them sound as good as I can. I just tell the truth about it.”

And with Sheffield flooded again, the fat bankroller of the Iraq war at Number 10 and the remaining morsels of successful British business about to fall into the clutches of some faceless private equity swine or other, you could forgive McClure for being a bit angry.

But come on. Social decline, shit bands (“Johnny Borrell is a fake”) and a desire for revolution (“It’s good to have a platform to get my message across”) are hardly new things, however convincing McClure’s sermon-like preaching may come across.

For all the talk of revolution, new single ‘He Said He Loved Me’ (where the Rev shares singing duties with a bandmate Laura Manuel) is firmly rooted in the grit of northern heartbreak and teenage pregnancy. All “mams and prams, twelve week scans”.

“There aren’t two songs that sound the same on my record,” McClure adds, bullishly.

Produced by Jagz Kooner, who did Primal Scream’s Swastika Eyes (“Sounds like it’s from 2050!) and remixed Kasabian (“He’d have produced their albums if they wanted to be true artists”), it’s full of lush production that juxtaposes brilliantly with McClure’s poetic narratives, and wry, acerbic observations. Melding familiarly breakneck guitars and melting synths, he also shows a sensitive side few would get from just reading his interviews.

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