New Musical Express:

Posthumous, skewered pop brilliance

With a shambles of an introduction, delivered somewhat bizarrely by David Walliams, 'End Of An Error' starts as it means to go on - as a riotous mess peppered with moments of brilliance. This post-split compilation showcases Les Incompetents' twin obsessions of early '90s children's TV and going out and losing your mind. They mixed the gang mentality of Madness with a sound not dissimilar to Talking Heads, had they been left out in the rain and savaged by a dog. The bouncy sixth-form pop of 'Reunion', the stupid ska of 'How It All Went Wrong', hell, even their cover of Thin Lizzy's 'Whiskey In The Jar' which segues into a number from Bugsy Malone, are all sparkling diamonds in the mine of insanity that the group plundered. They may be gone, but make sure these nutters are not forgotten.

7/10

www.roughtrade.com:

posthumous cd only album from les incompetents amazingly totalling 15 tracks including the white heat singles, demos, an xfm session and even an introduction from david walliams! les incompetents over their short career became underground legends and they dealt in ramshackle scuzz-pop. first single 'reunion' took the libertines down an almost country path whilst the flip 'much too much' was a chaotic and messy version of orange juice. second single 'how it all went wrong' sounded like a mix of dexy's midnight runners, an obscure early 80's indie diy 7" and indie kids trying to do two tone. a fantastic and much needed round up of a band in 10 years time will be hailed as long lost and seminal

www.contactmusic.com:

Once upon a time a group of lads decided to enter their school's battle-of-the-bands competition. Only problem was, they didn't have a band.and so Les Incompetents were born!

Sadly, just two years and two singles later, and after a traumatic six months including the near death of one of the band members, it was all over.

Often ridiculed and lambasted for being "overtly posh" and "musically incompetent", Les Incompetents were one of those bands that actually managed to combine excitement, enthusiasm and a sense of adventure with a plethora of cracking tunes that produced several moments of near-genius, and in a world so po-faced as the one surrounding the music business, felt like a breath of fresh air.

'End Of An Error' documents their career, and anyone who got the chance to see them live will recognise everything on here almost immediately. You see, that was one of the great things about Les Incompetents - love 'em or hate 'em, once heard, you never forgot 'em.

Based around the (mostly) improvised vocal interplay of duel singers Freddie Bang! (nee MacPherson) and Billy Bell (aka Leeson), Les Incompetents also managed to get through more drummers than Spinal Tap in their short history but still managed to unleash one of the most imaginative and criminally overlooked single releases of 2006, the gorgeously frantic 'How It All Went Wrong', which apart from sounding like a gunfight between the Pogues, Orange Juice and The Coral on Hampstead Heath, also fittingly became their epitaph.

Other highlights include the 90 second long opener 'Ramshackle Riot Show', (preceded by a spoken word intro from one David Walliams here), the Franz Ferdinand after two many uppers 'Reunion' and also the Fisher Price techno of 'Chapter Two', which has a certain behind-the-bikesheds-at-lunchtime charm about it that no one since Pop Will Eat Itself nearly two decades ago has managed to achieve so admirably (and cheekily) since.

Elsewhere there is an interview with John Kennedy for XFM which naturally turns into a shambolic outburst of four-letter tinged mayhem, while their cover of 'Whiskey In The Jar' sounds truer to its Irish folksong origins than the Thin Lizzy version that most people associate with the song.

But that, of course, was the whole point of Les Incompetents: Predictably unpredictable and all the more lovable for it.

Gone, but definitely not forgotten.

9/10

www.musicomh.com:

Reviewing bands posthumously seems a little pointless at times, particularly when the band in question hardly changed the face of music as we know it. Who knows though, in a few years we might look back and class Les Incompetents as being one of the most important bands of the decade. It's fairly improbable though.

Two years of Les Incompetents (that's Les as in Dawson incidentally) yielded a few singles, and some interesting gigs, but failed to create much of a ripple. Indeed it's only since their split that they've started to make headlines. Vocalist Frederick Bang is currently hanging off the arm of Peaches Geldof, whilst vocalist number two, Billy Leeson, recently ended up in a coma after an altercation with a former Green Party candidate.

It's a shame that they never made a huge impression, because a cursory trip through End of An Error shows a band that was far from incompetent. Their songs were a fusion of punk, folk, and pop that glinted with a knowing schizoid wit.

Escapades swings randomly through time changes and a chanted dual vocal that is triggers off the pleasure zones in the inner ear within seconds. It's the exact kind of song that Larrikin Love churn out with seeming ease and are roundly applauded for.

Costa Rica is a rampant charge led by the dual vocals of Bang and Leeson which changes shape so often it's almost hard to get a grasp on exactly what's going on. It must be said it's perhaps the dual vocals that set the band apart from other 'Thamesbeat' bands. At times the idea makes perfect sense, and at others their approach is so infuriating that you want to become a Green Party candidate.

Humour and music often make uncomfortable bedfellows (remember The Sultans of Ping?) and the sound of someone who sounds like Brian Blessed really overacting bellowing over the course of 10 songs can get a little wearing. That's bad enough, but the exorable Stupid Rap that closes the album is almost enough to persuade even the most level headed person that purchasing a sniper rifle and hunting the band down before they reform might not be such a bad idea.

Perhaps the most telling thing about this album is the interview from XFM that has been included at the end of the collection. It constantly references the band's live performance and highlights the fact that they were a great live band. Looking back across the songs included here, it would not be unfair to suggest that whilst we may not have lost a great singles band, we have lost a band that were undoubtedly capable of putting on hugely enjoyable live shows.

3/5

www.gigwise.com:

You can't help but like this ramshackle riot of a band. Even thought they're all middle class posh boys with one, Frederick Bang, now more famed for being Peaches Geldof's party-partner-come-boyfriend-whatever. Most bands would pay big bucks for that kind of free tabloid promotion…God bless celebrity. And this album leans even further towards the z-list with an opening speech come rant off about the band from no other than, drum roll please, David Walliams. Yes. Really.

But once you look past the stains of celebsville it's pretty easy to see this London lot had something pretty unique going on – with "had" being the operative word. As Les Inc are no more. Kaput. Game over. Cynics may see this release as just another way for those ever money grabbing labels to grab, well, more money off the fans.

But what about the music? Well Fredrick Bang's deep as a canyon voice certainly makes for one off listening. Add to this a circus like freak show camaraderie of dual vocalists, unabrashed geetars and an am-I-playing-in-time-to-this-song-or-the-one-in-my-head drummer you sure as hell aren't going to be bored.

And the lyrics? They're about modern metropolitan life – plain and simple. Binge drinking, indie discos, girls and party-ing. 'How It All Went Wrong' is a blurry vision of a night out on the tiles drinking "bra-a-a-ndy", as they put it. 'Much Too Much' is the story of the day after – lost mind, belongings and waking up in God knows where. We've all been there right? Add to that a cover of Thin Lizzy's 'Whisky In A Jar' which, albeit weak, is still a pretty good repress and you've got a party in an instant album. Just skip the triplet of interviews with John Kennedy unless you're a super fan – albums were made for music not talking…

4/5

Alexander Upcraft:

My esteemed secondary school buddies, having known turbulent times within their band's short but eminently successful London gig circuit, have finally (though posthumously) released an album, and although I don't know the finished sound, I give it a fantabulous two-thumbs fresh in great anticipation!

5/5

www.national-student.co.uk

They came, they excited everybody and then the went without releasing a proper full-album. The End of an Error is a collection the bands materia. This band should have been huge, but called it a day instead.