Audio Bullys, consisting of Tom Dinsdale and Simon Franks, rode the wave of gritty, street-level British house that Basement Jaxx had ignited and that the Streets along with Dizzee Rascal later sharpened into something sharper. Ahead of the duo’s first release, both members already possessed multiple years of production and DJ work; Dinsdale, who handled the bulk of the production, started spinning at sixteen and saw his own 12"s appear in sets by leading international DJs as early as 1998. Franks leaned more toward musicianship and served as the vocalist, having studied piano and drums prior to exploring sampling. After joining forces they began tracking material and scored early traction with the release “We Don’t Care.” Their debut studio album Ego War reached stores in both England and America during May 2003. Later the same year the pair contributed a volume to the Back to Mine mix series, and their follow-up full-length Generation surfaced in England toward the end of 2005, arriving stateside shortly afterward. Although it contained the hit single “Shot You Down,” which climbed to number three on the U.K. chart, the album underperformed relative to expectations. Their recording output then stayed quiet until 2010, when Higher Than the Eiffel finally emerged via Cooking Vinyl.
