Overview
The Kings of Nuthin was a 7-9 piece American punk rock band from Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in the late 1990s, they gained international attention in the early 2000s, especially in Europe, for their unusual combination of street punk, rock'n'roll and swing as well as their energetic live performances with piano, double bass, washboard and horns. After releasing four albums, they disbanded following the death of their singer in 2013.
The Saturday Night Specials (1996–1998)
The founding members of the Kings of Nuthin' were the core group Torr Skoog (upright bass), Liam Crill (drums) and Chris "Necro" Wilkinson (washboard). Originally a three piece band with a changing line-up of punks, bike messengers and squatters, they began meeting in 1996 in a warehouse filled with skate ramps in Jamaica Plain, Boston. From 1996 to 2001, the city experienced a small rockabilly revival and the band played this style with a slightly larger line-up, including a singer and up to two guitarists.
The Boston Blackouts (1998–1999)
From 1998 to 1999, the band performed under different names (e.g. Boston Bootleggers but mainly Boston Blackouts ) and the line-up changed several times: Slick initially played second guitar, and experienced bassist Spike Katz was persuaded by Torr Skoog, who then switched from bass to vocals. After the personnel change, they quickly made a name for themselves in rockabilly and psychobilly circles.
The Kings of Nuthin' (1999–2000): Demo Tape; EP Get Busy Livin' or Get Busy Dyin
As they increasingly played outside Massachusetts, they changed their name to the Kings of Nuthin' in the summer of 1999, naming themselves after the jacket club Kings A' Nuthin' from Orlando, Florida, where Spike Katz was touring with the Racketeers and thought the name would fit the band perfectly. Subsequently, there were members who contributed to both groups, for example, the interlude in the song "Kings of Nuthin'" was spoken by a member of Kings A' Nuthin'. They recorded their first demo tape in 1999 at Boston's 7A West Studio with the following band members: Torr Skoog (vocals), Justin Hubbard (guitar), Zack Brines (keyboards), Spike Katz (upright bass), Danny Edge (saxophone), Liam Crill (drums) and Chris Wilkinson (washboard).
Punk Planet compares his voice to that of Dicky Barrett from the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, accompanied by a band whose sound is somewhere between the Stray Cats and the Brian Setzer Orchestra. The German punk zine Ox-Fanzine wrote that the Kings of Nuthin' offer hard, fast and dirty rock'n'roll in its purest form, which lies somewhere between Stray Cats and The Meteors, and clearly stands out from the broad mass of neo-swing and rockabilly bands. A second reviewer of the magazine describes the album as "an extremely swinging combination of punk rock from the street, psychobilly and casual, laid-back rhythm & blues". After the death of saxophonist Danny Edge in November 2000, the band added Tommy Bellevue (tenor saxophone) as a new member and again Slick (now on baritone saxophone).
The Kings of Nuthin' (2001–2004): Fight Songs for Fuck-ups
After the label of their first album went bankrupt in 2001, Later that year, they performed together with Joe Clay in Boston and were finalists in the Rock & Roll Rumble. Sponsored by WBCN-FM, this "battle of the bands" began in 1979 in the Greater Boston area and became the longest running event of its kind in the United States. At the second Heavy Rebel Weekender, they performed at one of the major independent car and rock events in the United States, celebrating the hot-rod/greaser lifestyle in Winston-Salem, NC, around the Fourth of July 2002. A week later, they performed at the Oneida Rockabilly Festival in Green Bay, WI, which has been called the biggest rockabilly event ever and featured some of the most recognizable rockabilly representatives of the past decades, such as The Comets, Wanda Jackson and The Crickets.
In 2003, the band was recommended by the Dropkick Murphys, performed at the Zombilly Weekender at CBGB as support act for the Monsters and embarked on their first European tour, known for their out-of-control performances with burning instruments. In February 2004, their songs "La Chupacabra", "Where do We Go?" and "Drive All Night" appeared on the soundtrack of the PC version of the video game Crazy Taxi 3. and four month later contributed the song "Cry, Cry, Cry" to the album Dear Johnny...A Tribute to Cash, to which the Austin Chronicle writes that it elevates Johnny Cash to the same punk level as the Ramones.
The Kings of Nuthin' (2005–2009): Over the Counter Culture & European tour
In December 2005, the album Punk Rock Rhythm & Blues was released on People Like You for the European market and appeared on the American market in April 2006 under the name Over the Counter Culture on Sailor's Grave Records. It has been described as a really fun and energetic mix of 50's rock & roll, swing and big band music channeled through vintage street punk influences and not lacking in serious songwriting. and an Upstarter review even certified The Kings of Nuthin' as redefining an entire musical genre: "Much like their hometown brethren, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, The Kings of Nuthin' have done for Rock and Roll what the aforementioned did for ska." In April 2007, the entire joint "Bad Boys for Life Tour" with bands such as U.S.
Bombs and the Other was canceled because the Kings of Nuthin' couldn't get a full band together, but they did manage to tour Europe in the fall of 2007. On the last day of that tour, they provided a great moment at a festival in Spain by entertaining the audience during a break due to technical problems with a spontaneous acoustic performance with the saxophonist from the previous act, Sonny Burgess.
The Kings of Nuthin' (2010–2013): Old Habits Die Hard & disbandal
The album Old Habits Die Hard was released in May 2010 on Sailor's Grave Records. Like the two previous albums, it was recorded at Outpost studio in Stoughton, MA (Dropkick Murphys, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, The Ducky Boys, The Unseen, Blood for Blood), and well received by the press: Old Habits Die Hard was actually recorded five years earlier, so the last time the band were heard was during their 2007 European tour.
Zach Brines told Ox-Fanzine: "Whether the line-up of the Kings of Nuthin' is stable or not is something that becomes clear every time after a tour", "we take a break, then we all get together again and decide how to proceed with the band and individual members." Even after the release of their last album, the band no longer performed live, although a tour was planned for 2010 As nothing came of either, the end of the European tour in September 2007 can be seen as the unofficial break-up of the band. In June 2013, the body of singer Torr Skoog was found by police and firefighters at Quechee Gorge in southern Vermont. The investigation concluded that it was a suicide, and the Kings of Nuthin' disbanded as a result.
Until April 2014, Torr Skoog was part of the exhibition "This Is Boston Not LAme", which referenced the seminal 1982 Boston punk compilation "This Is Boston, Not L.A." and featured "four generations of Boston punk rock" in photographs by Gail Rush, Tara Feely, Nicole Tammaro and Dave Tree.
Musical style and genres
The Kings of Nuthin' formed a sound that was both a tribute to the past and a break with musical conventions. They mixed mid-20th century roots music with the energy of punk rock and stood out from comparable bands thanks to the distinctive vocals of their frontman Torr Skoog. Their sound fused elements of Early R&B, swing, rockabilly, rock'n'roll and punk rock. This was sometimes referred to as rockabilly revival, psychobilly, punk'n'roll, punk/rockabilly crossover, swing punk or psycho-swing. Their early recordings were based on urban jump blues, roots rock played "wildly original", and psychobilly and by PlasticBomb as a "crazy mix of rockabilly, swing'n'jive and rudimentary garage punk". Their genre fusion matured with Over the Counter Culture, which was intended as a synthesis of their previous work while expressing their diverse influences.
On Old Habits Die Hard, the band remained true to their style, but showed increased compositional complexity with tempo changes, intricate time signatures and a strong horn section.
Influences
According to a podcast with saxophonist and early band member Slick, singer Torr Skoog was influenced by the Stray Cats and the Mighty Mighty Bosstones in the time leading up to the Kings of Nuthin' first recordings, while Slick himself was influenced by The Cramps and Link Wray. Zach Brines described in an interview that the cover versions of Over the Counter Culture are the musical roots of the band, namely: Anti-Nowhere League, Peter and the Test Tube Babies, Blitz, Stiff Little Fingers, Eater, Hank Ballard and the Midnighters as well as Young Jessie. In another interview, he said that Boston's music scene as a whole has inspired him, as all the bands have influenced each other and share a common spirit.
Legacy
Although the Kings of Nuthin's career was cut short by the untimely death of their singer Torr Skoog in 2013, they left behind a strong discography and an unforgettable live reputation including equipment set on fire. Their musical legacy stems from the tension between the rebellion of 1950s rock'n'roll and the aggressive rhetoric of punk, whose sound they enriched with their unusual choice of instruments such as double bass, piano, washboard and tenor/baritone saxophones.
Members and session/touring musicians
According to the Kings of Nuthin's bassist Spike Katz, who Slick said was once accepted to the Juilliard School, the band had an excellent mix of musicians, half of whom studied at Berklee. and have been replaced live by touring musicians such as Matt Murphy, Tom Quartulli and Anant Pradhan.
Former members *Torr Skoog – upright bass (1996–1998) , lead vocals (1998–2013) *Liam Crill – drums (1997–2013) *Danny Edge – tenor saxophone (1998–2000) *Zack Brines – piano (1998–2013) *Chris Wilkinson – washboard (1998–2002, 2004–2008) *Slick – rhythm guitar, vocals (1998) , tenor & baritone saxophone (2001–2003) *Justin Hubbard – electric guitar (1998–2004) *Spike Katz – upright bass (1999–2004) *Tommy Bellevue – tenor saxophone (2001–2002) , baritone saxophone (2003–2004) *Hayden Cummings – tenor saxophone (2003–2005) *Thomas Lorioux – upright bass (2004–2005) *Trafton Waldrop – electric guitar (2004–2005) Former session musicians* *Jon Natchez – baritone saxophone (2005) *Dana Colley – bass saxophone (2005) : (*on more than one song) Former touring musicians *Jon Natchez – baritone saxophone (2000) *Matt Murphy – upright bass (2003–2004) *Tom Quartulli – tenor saxophone (2003–2007) *Anant Pradhan – baritone saxophone (2005) Timeline
Studio albums
*Get Busy Livin' or Get Busy Dyin (2000) *Fight Songs for Fuck-Ups (2002) *Punk Rock Rhythm & Blues (2005) / Over the Counter Culture (2006) *Old Habits Die Hard (2010)
Singles
*Shit out of Luck (2001) *The Kings of Nuthin' / The Briggs (2004)
See also
* List of rockabilly musicians * List of psychobilly bands * List of street punk bands * List of songs about Boston
External links
* (Archived on May 31, 2008) *