Guy Lochhead, 16/01/13
Music For Maniacs did a great job of condensing down the original WFMU post about this incredible group: “Two 12-year-old boys from the San Francisco area. Their story sounds too bizarre to be true: their adult guitar player was a retarded mental patient who played so poorly he’s turned down in the mix; their drummer went by the name Tony Fag; they played with bands like Naked Raygun and Frightwig; recorded a 7” of made-up-on-the-spot songs live at Berkeley’s punk haven Gilman St. Project; and lead singer Giuliano “Scab” Bourbon died at age 15 after an “elevator-surfing” accident.” This is one of my favourite kid bands. ‘We’re The Scabs’ is the best Stooges rip-off I’ve heard. HOWEVER, they’re clearly some pretty messed up kids showing off, which is both the joy of their music and the reason it shouldn’t be included. There are plenty of other kid musicians who made some really interesting music by offering a genuine child’s perspective on the world – Human Skab, for example. In fact, The Rolling Scabs were influenced by Human Skab.