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The Scratch

They'll go all the way, you watch. Clint Boon XFM

About Me

"I love The Scratch me. Not only have they got ace punk inspired tunes, they've got a great spirit. They'll go all the way, you watch." Clint Boon - XFM

‘…guitar gold dominated their sound and their set is stuffed full of great tunes’ John Robb - Goldblade

"Wonderfully edgy pop/rock with nu-punk attitude and wholesome retro intonations. Rammed full of typically British popability but with genuine global appeal." www.toxicpete.co.uk
The Scratch are a St.Albans based four piece who recently won the XFM Manchester Unsigned competition, and opened the, now legendary, Versus Cancer gig at the sold out 22,000 capacity M.E.N. Arena Manchester, supporting... Noel Gallagher, Paul Weller, Ian Brown, The Charlatans, Echo & the Bunnymen.

Formed in 2002, we are a band steeped in the DIY ethic, having released all of our material to date on our own Ponyland Records. Last year saw our second album, “Night Bus or Milk Train” follow up our 2003 debut "D.I.Y". We are currently working on tracks for album number 3. Apart from the Manchester Arena we have played numerous times at the Barfly in London and other London venues such as The Water Rats, Dublin Castle, The Borderline, The Hope and Anchor and The Metro, plus The Roadhouse, The Dry Bar and Night and Day in Manchester and many others from Sheffield to Cornwall.

NEW single CRITICAL MASS is available by clicking on the advert to the left of this text... see the video below!
CLICK HERE TO BUY THE ALBUM IN THE UK @ ROUGH TRADE

CLICK HERE TO BUY THE ALBUM IN THE USA @ CD BABYCLICK HERE TO BUY & DOWNLOAD FROM iTUNES

Critical Mass
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X-Ray Eyes - The Scratch

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Numbers - The Scratch

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Critical Mass Live at the Water Rats 23rd Feb 07

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My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 6/27/2005
Band Website: thescratch.co.uk
Band Members: Andy, John, Grim, The Baron


Influences: The Buzzcocks, T-Rex, The Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Kinks, Nuggets Compilations Albums, The Heartbreakers, PIL, Primal Scream, New Order, Blur, Happy Mondays, The Libertines, Dirty Pretty Things, Interpol, The Flaming Lips, Human League, Be Bop Deluxe, Adam and the Ants, The Fire Engines, Killing Joke, Sparks, Wire, The Rakes, Louis XIV (Band, not dead French King!), Subbuteo, The Mighty Boosh, Potty Pete, Devo, New Young Pony Club
Sounds Like:

...absolutely top, old school punk rock, I reckon. [Clint Boon, XFM]

...all you want to hear at the end of the day is does it sounds like Duran Duran and the good news is that yes it sort of does had they of course ever been fed bad pills and suffered psychotic reactions! [Losing Today]

Night bus or Milktrain is a blistering set of songs that fuses retro and new wave punk and leaves me with a smile on my face after one listen. [www.subba-cultcha.com]

Overall, 'Night Bus or milk train' is a fine indie punk album. Whilst they draw greatly on their punk influences the album is simply not a rehash of a music genre that saw its finest hour thirty years ago. It's an album that is very fresh, and very now, and one which indicates exactly how much they deserved their title of 'best unsigned band'. [www.tastyfanzine.org.uk]

"Wonderfully edgy pop/rock with nu-punk attitude and wholesome retro intonations. Rammed full of typically British popability but with genuine global appeal." [www.toxicpete.co.uk]

"The Scratch coul be just another indie band, but once you get past the first three or four tunes on Night Bus Or Milk Train, you realise that something a little bit special is going on here. They come across like a mildly nu-punk version of The Coral, tightly crafted guitar pop music interwoven with the odd synth or sample - not overused in the slightest. ‘Stranger’ even takes a different course and sounds very Eighties, like Midge Ure with new toys on Christmas. The guitar work is excellent, there are some damn fine riffs on this record and they seem genuinly keen to do something just a little bit different. In every verse you can hear shades of influences ranging from The Libertines to The Human League." [Is This Music]

In fact it's the kind of album that might well be fondly remembered in a few years time if the band goes on to fulfil their potential, that currently makes 'Night Bus or Milk Train' that bit better than most of their contemporaries. [www.getreadytorock.com]


Record Label: Ponyland Records
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

Endorse It Festival - tickets on sale now

Dear Scratchers,Details of our first big fest are now available....Tickets can be purchased from http://www.lgofestivals.com/tickets.php, using the paypal system. You do not need to have a paypal acco...
Posted by The Scratch on Tue, 03 Jun 2008 09:05:00 PST

XFM Wales

Dear Scratchers, Just as the car engines were warming to an Xstatic purr... we got an email from the engineer for this Monday's session. Saying that due to Xfm being no longer (In Wales), the session ...
Posted by The Scratch on Sun, 01 Jun 2008 09:22:00 PST

Critical Mass Video on Sky TV!

Dear Scratchers,Just a quickie to let you know that the video for our current single Critical Mass has been played this evening on sky channel 196... look out for more plays over the weekend on channe...
Posted by The Scratch on Fri, 23 May 2008 12:29:00 PST

Grim ’tames the Tiger’ at a record breaking tour finale!

This The Scratch's debut at the Bullet Bar Camden proved to be worth all the hype on a definite record breaking night of blood, sweat and cheers!The sweat was due to the volume of people crammed into ...
Posted by The Scratch on Sat, 17 May 2008 02:04:00 PST

Latest Critical Mass review - Room 13.com

Dear Scratchers,Here's our latest review of Critical MassRated 10 out of 13 [details]by Matt Brown 'Critical Mass' is the latest release from The Scratch, a four piece punk rock outfit from St Albans....
Posted by The Scratch on Wed, 14 May 2008 03:44:00 PST

XFM Wales Session - Colin Francies Response Show.

Dear Scratchers,Exciting news we've been booked on the Colin Francies XFM Wales Response Show.The session will be recorded from 4pm at their Cardiff office and will be broadcast in late August around ...
Posted by The Scratch on Wed, 14 May 2008 03:05:00 PST

Hot Hot Hot - Mermaid St.Albans Sat 10th May

Dear Scratchers,A big thanks to all those of you brave souls who despite pressure cooker conditions in the Mermaid last night stayed for the full 24 track set... it was true that a throng was congrega...
Posted by The Scratch on Sun, 11 May 2008 04:58:00 PST

BBC Radio on tour feature... listen now!

Dear Scratchers,For a week, until next Friday you can Listen to our 'on tour' interview with BBC radio...The interview was conducted by Ciara and Dom of 3 Counties introducing Lab radio on Thursday 8t...
Posted by The Scratch on Sat, 10 May 2008 03:06:00 PST

Great little Critical Mass Review... www.the-mag.me.uk

Dear Scratchers,Here's the latest review..."It's quite nice to hear a record that combines an anti-mass-market attitude with some decent hooks and a big chorus. So many attempts at anti-industry song ...
Posted by The Scratch on Fri, 09 May 2008 02:32:00 PST

On tour  but the Night belongs to The Wots Hot and Wots Rot Girls and a Big Mangina!

Dear Scratchers,On this the third booking of The Scratch at Herts Uni (formerly the Hatfield Poly). It's about time we sent some big thanks to guys who run the show. So BIG thanks to Lee for keeping t...
Posted by The Scratch on Fri, 09 May 2008 12:55:00 PST