SCUM OF TOYTOWN - *A Re-Post*

This re-posting should have been done a couple of months ago as a footnote to a gig review of the scumbags at Club 85 in Hichin, but due to un foreseen circumstances at the eleventh hour I wasn't able to get along to it. Then I was gonna just post the music with a bit of writing, but found it hard to be objective about it, as primarily the band are friends that I've known for as many years as I can't remember. I started to write about some recollections of gigs etc back in the day, but then stopped because....now is the day!

The blurgh below and the lean, mean and moody photo have been blatantly blagged from the bands Last FM page:

Ska-punksters and arch exponents of tuneful 90s agit-pop to a wider world, Scum of Toytown are a response to the boredom and disaffection of London overspill life in Stevenage, UK. Rooted in the North London punk scene of the 70s and 80s, the main members met and began playing together in the late 80s. Gravitating towards the lively free festival and squat scene, SOTT played numerous dates in the UK with bands like RDF, Back to the Planet, Citizen Fish, Senser, 25th of May, Blaggers ITA, Dub War, Bender, The Cowboy Killers and AOS3. Three highly successful tours were organised on the central European squat scene through the influential Kopi collective in Berlin.

Tracks were released on a number of compilations, a DIY 7” EP, and an outstanding album, ‘Strike’, recorded at Southern Studios in Wood Green with the help of the Newport based Words of Warning label. Generous reviews were received for their recorded music in the underground and mainstream music press. Several tracks received national radio airplay, including an airing of the iconic ‘Jackboot Crusade’ by the late John Peel and, most recently, Tom Ravenscroft played ‘Sink or Swim’ on BBC 6 Music in November 2010.  SOTT stopped playing together around 1997. However, in 2010 events brought them back together and the band are currently working on a host of new songs, with recording and some selected live shows in the pipeline.

Shows have been played, songs have been recorded, there's footage on YouTube and stuff to listen to on the bands website. 2013 could be the year that the scum rises to the surface! Until then lets rewind a few years to a live set @ Bowes Lyon House, Stevenage in 1992, their first release, the mighty Fight Truth Decay Tape and here's a copy of their Destruction Of Both Houses Of Parliament EP, plus some bonus remixes.