2012 has been the year of the Olympics and for men, therefore, it's been impossible to escape the alpha male. But who will speak for the real British man, the chubby, the inept and the shy; the nice guy who isn't interested in winning? Omega Male, that's who: a collaboration between David Best of Brighton art-funkers Fujiya & Miyagi and Sammy Rubin of Brooklyn's Project Jenny, Project Jan. Their arch electropop (subjects: being overly apologetic, the shame of tactically voting Lib Dem at the last election), is tailor-made for the man who rejects strutting machismo. Best elaborates on the concept: "You can either be a loser or, more positively, which we're going for, someone opting out of society's norms. The anti-alpha male. Perfection is thrust in your face, but it's quite nice to be less ambitious, to enjoy what little you can glean from life." Here, he talks us through his classic omega males, both good and bad…
MINGERING MIKE
Amateur musician and accidental outsider artist who created a cache of elaborately illustrated imaginary albums. "Someone at a car boot sale came across all these amazing sleeves with made-up tracklists. It's a perfect way to make a record. You can't get slagged off. There's no disappointing second album. And it's limitless… as long as you don't run out of felt-tips."
JONATHAN RICHMAN
Folk-rock sprite. "I'm really interested in his first Modern Lovers record and his anti-rock stance. I've never been a fan of foot-on-the-monitor stuff. I don't like epics. I'd rather listen to songs about chewing-gum wrappers or walking around Boston's Museum Of Fine Arts. He doesn't come across as a go-getter. He's happy with little things."
FRANK SPENCER
Hapless star of Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em. "A fuckwit, really. But lovable. I have this image of him on a ladder, walls falling down. The rubbish side of the omega male. Recently, I was trying to bleed a radiator for two days. The landlord did it in a second. Maybe I got cocky. I was in my mid-20s before I knew what bleeding a radiator meant and I've had 10 years out of the game. I got rusty."
OMEGA MALE SUPER VILLAIN
Singaporean action figure. "I'm not a comic-book fan. I don't collect little figures. But omega males can be prone to collecting and cataloguing things when they might be better popping out to the shop and having a chat with someone – even a woman."
TIMOFEY PNIN
Russian professor, bewildered by America, in Nabokov's comic novel Pnin. "Everything that could go wrong, does. He's flaky, and people poke fun at him. But you side with him. It's like school; it divides into two camps. You've got nice, placid, funny people and you've got the aggressive, preening lads. It's best to side with the people who aren't twats. Sometimes we're rubbish. And that's OK."
