Riskee & The Ridicule
If youpay attention to thecurrentstate of theBritish punk scene
thenyou’ll haveundoubtedlynoticed the ravereviewswrittenabout
Kent band Riskee&TheRidicule’sincendiaryliveshows,and of their
incredibleBlameCulturealbum. Now they’re backwith anew release,
BodyBagYour Scene,andthey’renotshowingany signsof
slowingdown or becoming more restrained.
U
niqueamongsttheir
contemporaries,leadsinger
Scotttakesamodern
approach,withjack-hammer
vocalsspittingangerand
humourequallyinarapid-firestylethat
owesmoretoStormzyandTheStreets
thanRottenorStrummer.Cynicismabout
modernlifeisamainstayoftheirlyrics,
asistheirprideinbeingoutsiderseven
tothepunkscene.
“Myrootsareinwhatcamebefore
Grime,”saysScott.“Iusedtotakepart
inMCrapbattlesandthelike,butpunk
alwaysappealedtome,butIsuppose
that’swherethelyricalplaycomesfrom
inoursongs.Punkalwayshadmoreto
saytomethough,andthat’showIended
uphere.IknewIwantedtodothingsina
moretraditionalstyle,andaftermeeting
Jimboinapubwestartedhangingout,
writingsongsandstuff.We’djamat
houseparties,anditjustdevelopedaswe
wentalong.Weplayedanopenmicnight
andgotamassivereaction,which
encouragedustoputanEPtogether.
“WegotontheLondoncircuitandwere
oftenpullinginmorefansthanthe
headliners.Itseemedthereason
promotersweren’tputtingusonthetop
ofthebillwasbecausewewerean
acousticact,anditwasahardsell
puttingusaboveafullband.We
understoodthat,anditpromptedusto
formaproperband.
“Thatsaid,westillfindthatalotof
olderpunksdismissusbecauseofthe
Grimeaspect,butthat’sonlymy
background.Ontheotherhand,Jimbo
comesfromamorehard-corepunk
background,JordanisintoMathRock
andMattlovespoppunk,soit’sallcome
togetherandmutatedintothissoundthat
makesusalittlehardtopigeonhole.But
that’swhoweare.Thesoundiswhatit
is.Ifpeoplewanttocallitpunk,that’s
fine,butiftheydon’t–whocares?We’re
stillgoingtosoundthesame!
“I’dsaythatourdebutalbum,Dawn
OfTheDog,wasaverypersonalrelease,
butthatmywritinghascomeonalong
wayfromthere.Experienceimprovesit
andgivesotherperspectives,which
we’vecarriedforwardaswe’ve
gonealong.
“Oursecondalbum,BlameCulture,
wasamonster.Itpissedalloverour
128 |SCOOTERING|AUGUST 2019
