You may remember him as foul-mouthed shit-talker Jay Cartwright in The Inbetweeners, but there’s a bit more to James Buckley than all of that. The actor has just made his directorial debut on the video for Every Time We Fight, the new single by Essex four-piece The Milk.

Now, we didn’t just choose this video because of the Inbetweeners connection (although Jay would be joint first with Nathan from Misfits for our most vulgar TV characters of all time). We chose to feature The Milk because Every Time We Fight is fecking excellent. The tune has a brilliant, bass-heavy groove, trippy drums and some nicely understated riffing, not to mention a great chorus.

Dig into these guys – they describe themselves as “new soul rebels” on Twitter, and they certainly deliver that along with an indie sensibility that we love. They’re not afraid to infuse their sound with funky basslines and harder-edged rock either, though lead singer Rick Nunn’s throaty vocal holds everything together. Check out their Soundcloud for more songs and some remixes, and their YouTube channel if you like moving pictures with your music.

The Milk are currently touring the UK, so check out their website for dates near you – you don’t want to miss this band live! Every Time We Fight is released on June 24th, and their debut album, Tales From The Thames Delta, will drop in September. Definitely one to watch for.

As for Buckley, the actor couldn’t resist getting in front of the camera as well as being the guy with the megaphone directing all the action. Still, unlike his onscreen alter-ego, he talks intelligently about the working-class sensibility behind the music video and how he chose to film it in his own local working men’s club…

It’s been the most rewarding thing I’ve done in my career so far. I put myself forward to direct the video and I came up with the concept as well.  We shot it in a working men’s club in Dagenham that my dad would take me to on a Friday night, and I still go now. There’s this back story of a factory closing and how the people then come together as a community: I play the worker who rallies them together. The band wrote the song at the same time as the London riots, so the videos’ in part a reflection on that as well.

Buckley has recently dismissed rumours of another series of The Inbetweeners, and he’s currently working on a movie project in the States called The Necessary Death Of Charlie Countryman. And until that comes out, check out the Every Time We Fight video!