Audio Bullys are an electronic music group from the United Kingdom, consisting of Simon Franks and Tom Dinsdale. The group were once managed by DJ and presenter George Lamb.
The duo released their debut album Ego War in 2003 to positive reviews which helped to establish them as one of the best new acts in dance music. The album fused elements of breaks, hip-hop, punk, garage and house with clever beats and samples.
In 2005 they released Generation, the follow-up to their debut album. Despite reaching number 3 in the UK Singles Chart with their 2005 hit, “Shot You Down”, which samples the Nancy Sinatra version of the song “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)”, the album was poorly received. Generation was seen as a step away from what made Ego War appealing due to the pace being slower and a number of tracks being downbeat in mood. In a 2008 interview, Simon Franks suggested that they listened to their label, Virgin, too much: “We should never have listened to anyone else”. “Virgin admitted they didn’t know how to market house music, and it slowly turned into us making this slower album. The daft thing is, Shot You Down was the big hit, this old-school club track, but it was followed by a moody, dark record. It confused everyone.”
In making Generation, the group worked with Suggs of Madness collaborating on the track “This Road”.