WE ARE more used to breaking the news than making the news but The Argus is now the inspiration for a song by a punk rock band.

Brighton band Hashtag wrote the four-minute song about Argus “bills” – the posters displayed outside newsagents where a story of the day is encapsulated in a few words.

One of our more infamous examples is “Council calls in counsellors to counsel councillors”, although that bill did not make the cut for this song, which is inspired by more recent stories.

Songwriter Pomy Collingwood explained: “I do not read the newspapers, but you see these posters outside off licences and so on.

“And I thought, if you put them all together that’s what the news looks like, from a distance.

“Then I put it to a tune I’d had in my head for a long time. I think it’s come out really well.

“I like them a lot, I think they’re always written from a really interesting point of view.”

Pomy is the band’s lead singer and is joined on stage at their gigs around the city by fellow Hungarian Karasz on drums, Pole Jezus on bass and Englishman Jonathan Drake on guitar.

During the day Pomy can be found busking around the Old Steine. He said he was excited about the forthcoming release of the band’s new album, songs from which can be found on their website www.hashtagband.net/.

As well as footage of Lewes Bonfire processions and policemen dancing at Gay Pride, the music video has close-ups of Argus bills, filtered with special effects.

The coarse vocals scream out unlikely lyrics including “squatters set up tent village” and “big lemon makes history”, as well as more dramatic headlines including “jilted lover slit ex’s throat” and “the town police forgot”.

Kate Parkin, Argus sub-editor and writer of our billboard posters since the late 1990s, said: “Well it certainly isn’t how I expected my words to be used. I’m just looking for a strong story I can describe in an eye-catching few words.

“It’s great, although to be honest I probably won’t be rushing to buy their album.”

To see the video, log on to theargus.co.uk.