Next of Kin

If I told you that I was thinking of a mid-late nineties pop band consisting of three long-haired brothers, all younger than 20, you'd probably cry "Hanson"! But "Next of Kin" were the identikit copies - three brothers, Nathan, Keiran and Mark were from Chelmsford and signed to Universal in 1999.

Alas, very little. Debut single "24 Hours From You" was heavily promoted, but missed the Top 10. The follow-up "More Love" scraped into the Top 40 and that was it. No album ever surfaced. They were, to date, last heard of gigging in Walthamstow in 2003.

Whether or not it's common sense or sheer laziness I don't know, but in recent years record companies have leapt to capitalise on unique successes by hastily compiling 'copycat' bands. To all the world Next of Kin looked like an English Hanson, even down to the trademark long hair and almost identical ages of the three brothers to their American counterparts. Little is known about the 'Kin's background, although it might be unfair to assume they were instantly manufactured to ape the then-huge Hanson - if they wern't, they were certainly unlucky with the timing of their arrival. The single "24 Hours From You" is a jangly, guitar-driven gem, and one can only guess at why it wasn't bigger. The only answer can be a big "we've seen it all before" from the band's intended teen audience. Still, it seems a shame we never got more from this lot and that "Five" prospered instead.

The bands two singles "24 Hours From You" and "More Love" are still widely available on Amazon and Ebay - in particular there are about a billion copies of "More Love" floating about, which might lend a clue as to why there was no follow-up to it. A bootleg of never-released songs has appeared on Ebay before for a very high asking price. "24 Hours From You" is on "HaRpi Treasures Volume 7 - Feast on Scraps", released in March 2005.

The brothers were dropped from Universal with half an unreleased album in the can. However, they continued to gig and in December 2003 signed to an independent label and began recording in Farmhouse Studios, Fulham. A year and a bit later, and the results have yet to materilise. Jackie, who runs the 'Next of Kin' fan club (and is also quite possibly their Mum) told me that "the guys are currently in Germany working very hard". But who knows whether this briefest of bands will ever be seen again.