The Reytons: South Yorkshire band neck-and-neck with Smile in race for second number 1 album

South Yorkshire band The Reytons are neck-and-neck with Smile in the race for number 1.

The group, whose members hail from Rotherham and Doncaster, are looking to top the Official Albums Chart for the second time running.

The Reytons' latest album Ballad of a Bystander is sitting at number two in the midweek chart, just behind Wall of Eyes, by Smile, though only a couple of hundred copies are believed to separate them.

Reacting to the news, the band tweeted: "We are officially in a chart battle!!! It's us against the majors but WE CAN DO THIS!!!

"Remember, One physical copy is worth a THOUSAND streams... That's one CD, Download, Cassette or Vinyl!! They all make a massive difference as we take on some of the richest organisations in the world. Who's with us?"

The Reytons achieved their first number one album in January 2023, with What's Rock and Roll?

The band have enjoyed a meteoric rise to fame, going from playing in front of a few hundred people at a Sheffield club to selling out Sheffield Arena in just a few years, all without the backing of a record label.

Ballad of a Bystander, The Reytons' third studio album, is again self-released and, like What's Rock and Roll?, was produced by David Watts.

The Reytons are set for a huge homecoming show this summer at Clifton Park, in Rotherham, where they will perform in front of 20,000 fans on Saturday, July 6.

They will be the first band to play at the park, referenced in the title track from their debut album Kids Off The Estate, since T-Rex in 1971.

Singer Johnny Yerrell was born in Rotherham but has lived in Conisbrough for the past decade, drummer Jamie Todd lived in the Cecil Hotel pub in Warmsworth, where his mother was landlady for many years and guitarist Joe O’Brien lives in Denaby.

Johnny previously said: "We've all grown up in South Yorkshire and it will continue to be our home in the future."