Nicotine Skuzzie Notes

Malcontents of the modern age, The Skuzzies play hook propelled city slang. In a blur of riffs, snappy tunes and break beats, the London based trio tear down society’s bright façade. Low-life never sounded so good. From the big time dealer who lost his gun and his pride, to down at heel lottery dreamers and rich girls who are only as good as their money, The Skuzzies repertoire reflects their own reality. Could be down town Chicago, might be night time Marseilles, but the grit that infuses their jaded vision is Deptford, a run down area way off the tourist map. Rising from the Deptford squat scene, the nascent Skuzzies made their debut at the notorious Babyshambles riot in 2004, performing in front of 4000 fractious kids at the Astoria theatre in London’s West end. The kids lost their minds, the bouncers their tempers and the event made the news. The Skuzzies were heroes for a night but homelessness and dissolution took its toll on the band who vanished into the Deptford badlands.

In 2006, Nina Antonia discovered The Skuzzies lead singer/ guitarist Jerome Alexandre in rock n’ roll lost property and set about restoring the band. Ace drummer Nick Le West, a former compadre of Jerome’s joined the fold shortly after. With Jerome and Nick at the helm, 2008 saw the release of the ‘Dissatisfied’ Ep, a one off hot shot for punk label Framingo that garnered The Skuzzies radio play in the U.S, Europe and U.K. Fine-tuning the line-up, bassist Laura Heggarty, whose style is as classic as any of the Motown stable, is the most recent member of the band. Having won the respect of Clash icon, Mick Jones, and received the approval of Stroke’s producer Gordon Raphael who described them as “The most exciting band in London in the last 5 years’’ The Skuzzies feral melodies and visceral live performances have alienated the play-safes and captured the souls of their devotees. In a country where rock n’ roll has abdicated from the street, has forgotten how to sweat, bleed or use a guitar with intent, The Skuzzies tell the truth.

Nina Antonia – May 2009