Jul 19, 2010
We Just got a google alert that X-Ray Eyes is being played on Kinglake Ranges FMs Unsigned show - in Victoria Australia

word is spreading!

Jul 11, 2010
thanks to everyone who've downloaded and thus chosen I relax to Spiral Scratch as this weeks tourdates number 1! This makes it incredibly our 4th number 1 in the last 12 months, following in the footsteps of You want the world, Teen Idol and X-Ray eyes.

Jul 6, 2010
Here's what Artrocker made of our latest single... think he likes it?!

The Scratch
I Relax To Spiral Scratch
(Ponyland Records)

The Scratch aren’t a very relaxing band. ‘I Relax To Spiral Scratch’ isn’t a very relaxing song. Instead, it’s bratty, snarling, nasal and rests its laurels on a brilliantly drunken chorus. Furthermore, as the song progresses it becomes increasingly more difficult to appreciate how one could relax to it: it’s the sort of thing you’d play on repeat for weeks in a fit of merriment.
Max Feldman

Jul 4, 2010
Just to say a quick thanks to everyone who downloaded I relax to Spiral Scratch this week, propelling it to the number 2 position in this weeks www.tourdates.co.uk unsigned chart!

Jun 20, 2010
Dear Scratchers,

Great news and the hits keep on coming!... thanks to everyone who has downloaded our latest single and put us straight in at number 3 in this weeks tourdates chart... for anyone who hasn't yet, just go to www.tourdates.co.uk/the-scratch and download it for FREE!!! Let's see if we can get ourselves a 4th consecutive number 1!

x

Jun 11, 2010
Dear Scratchers, thanks to RECHARGED RADIO who are playing "I Relax To Spiral Scratch" on this week's Friday Forum Show! Hope you can tune in tonight, over at rechargedradio.com!

Jun 10, 2010
We've put together a high quality page on vimeo where you can view all our vids, we've called it The ScratchTV!

http://vimeo.com/channels/thescratch http://bit.ly/aLEPOa

Jun 8, 2010
Many thanks to Mark for his usual brilliance!

Sunday, May 30, 2010

the scratch
Category: Music
The Scratch ‘I relax to the spiral scratch’ (pony land). Oh yeah - doesn’t get much better than this, ultra limited 100 only re-release for this the debut outing from the much admired the Scratch sees the band continuing their plundering of the archives leading up to the eventual re-mastered ready for download issue of their long since out of print and dare we say much sought after ‘DIY‘ full length. Originally seeing the light of day in 2002 / 2003 this was at the time something of a hi-fi hogger in our gaff. A homage of sorts to the Buzzcocks legendary DIY debut ’spiral scratch’ EP before of course Devoto jumped ship to later re-emerge fronting Magazine and the newly re-jigged Shelley fronted Buzzcocks hot footed it to label major UA. A killer tune that has resisted the onset of passing years to still sound like a long lost and forgotten diamond ditty turned up from a late 70’s scene, shaping up much like something resulting from a fist fight between the Saints and the Dead Boys ’I relax to spiral scratch’ is acutely wired and dirty, scowling and cocksure, petulant and snotty and above all about you in an instant - daubed with a face peeling razor like retro grind that’s dimpled with a caustic glam tinged rash and simultaneously threaded with a deliciously turbo tripped scuzzy chug. Flip over for an equally engaged slab of ear candy in the shape of ’trigger finger’ which reveals something of a latent white funk post punk disco persona to the bands melodic psyche as it manages to embrace with much aplomb elements of mid 70’s Stones, early 90’s Primal Scream, Soup Dragons and a fair old smidgeon of Carter USM into its hip shaking lysergic fringe flipping boogie brew. And before you ask - indeed yes you do need it.
www.ponylandrecords.co.uk

May 28, 2010
Read our June email newsletter: Famous Junes include Whitfield, Sarpong and Brown... now meet...

May 26, 2010
Just to let you know I relax to Spiral Scratch our limited edition 7 inch single will be available as a FREE download at www.tourdates.co.uk/the-scratch from Friday for one month only, prior to release on 5th July, ehen it will be out on all major download sites. There will be a link in our May mailout, this Friday, if you haven't signed up to our mailing list, just go to www.thescratch.co.uk and click on the link, for exclusive news and pics!

May 20, 2010
just a quick reminder that tickets for our fab summer festival appearance in Dorset, with the amazing Damned are on sale at the end of this link!

http://www.endorseit.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3:tickets&catid=7:tickets&Itemid=6

May 15, 2010
Just a quick reminder that The Flag in Watford is the venue for our end of tour show tonight. Doors 8pm. £5 with flyer, (£3 in advance), be great to see you there, we're on stage just after 9!!!

May 13, 2010
Thanks to Neil at amazingtunes.com who is currently playing 'X-Ray Eyes' on his amazing radio show!

May 11, 2010
Last Saturday (8th May), Andy, Terry, John and Grim returned to Farm Factory studios in Welwyn Garden (the scene of our Teen Idol recording), to lay down the backing tracks for 5 new numbers and old fave and previously unrecorded Ajax Boogie woogie boy from Watford Gap. Newies: Stavin' off the where's or the wise, Biting on my lip, Don't play along, Weirder than we are and Let there be us were laid down in a very productive 6 hour session. Don't play along sees Steve Filth enter the fray with his first track to be recorded by the band.

We've posted some pics on our myspace if you fancy a peak!

Next stop Brighton, where you'll be able to hear at least two of the new ones live!

May 7, 2010
Just to let you know Chris at Verulam 92.6FM St.Albans will be playing one of our tracks on tonight's show. You can listen on 92.6FM or online at www.radioverulam.com from 6:30pm-7pm.

May 2, 2010
X-Ray eyes has become our third tourdates number 1, following on from last years You want the world and Teen Idol!... many, many thanks to everyone who have downloaded the track over the last 4 weeks, we couldn't have done it without the love and support and (pointing finger) of our friends and fans!!!

Hope you can come and join us on our mini May tour in a couple of weeks where we can celebrate properly!

Apr 26, 2010
Big thanks to Ade at TunAtheDay for making X-Ray eyes TunAtheDay today!!!
http://www.tunatheday.com

and also to Andy Cordy who reviewed it thus, this very morning!

The vocals are what make the difference here, I think, though they're done very well with the guitar sounds. The voice and humor of Daman Albarn comes to mind.

I think the spikiness is a very British thing and would prevent this being a mass market commodity in most countries, certainly the States and sadly, probably here (Radio 2?)too.

I loved it!

-------------------------------------------
Great start to a Monday Scratch fans!

Apr 25, 2010
Thanks again for all your votes/downloads this week enabling XRay Eyes to remain at number 2 in the tourdates chart!... keep up the good work, lets see where next week leads us... thanks to Recharged radio for featuring the track in its Friday Forum show this week too!

Apr 25, 2010
last night saw a stripped down Scratch (Filthy, being on a stag do) play a storming set in the small village of Blisworth, Towcester (Northants) in honour of our DJ mate (and Radio Goliath) Hugh Davenport who was celebrating his 5th decade with close friends and family. A lively set that included 3 newies, Biting on my lip, Let there be us and Staving off the where's or the wise and also featured a rare cover ...this time the Nirvana classic 'Come as you are' was brilliantly well received by the assembled revellers and saw post gig sales of Whatever Happened to Friday night, beat all previous records since the Launch Party last October. It was great to be asked by main man Hugh, whose dedication to music comes so close to ours that he has fast become an honourary top table scratcher!

You have a chance to meet the man on May 13th, when he will be doing a 'fly on the wall' gorilla radio special for us and Recharged Radio, so if you fancy getting in on the action... get your B&B booked sharpish!

Apr 19, 2010
Monday, April 19, 2010

the scratch
Category: Music
The Scratch ‘x-ray eyes’ (pony land). Frankly too cool for their own good. Much loved and obsessed at the losing today record shed are the Scratch that we actually foolishly forgot to actually review this blighter given we were having so much of a wheeze dancing around the kitchen CD player and neatly exhibiting our prowling and preening panache of the foot shuffle to all and sundry - in fact there have been press reports and we hear - much hoo-ha at the hastily convened impromptu ad hoc midnight committee meetings at the funny hand shakes are us local council (tabled no doubt after the under dimmed lights submission of expense receipts and some nifty double entry reconciliations). Ah well I digress - the Scratch - from St Albans - as you should all know - have graced these pages much over the years - informed by a late 70’s new wave long since passed and blessed with a knowing knack for kicking out day-glow dinked three minute killer cuts en masse the band have now retrained their sights on their recorded past and decided to polish, re-master and re-release their teasingly limited debut full length ’diy’ (streuth and gadzooks even we don’t have a copy of that one - a pox upon your houses sire or some such foolish nonsense). as a taster for said event they sent out this nifty number entitled ‘x-ray eyes’ on a reconnaissance mission. Ah be it the dog bollocks I say - originally commented upon way back at missive 35 wherein we described said funky bug as -
‘X-Ray eyes’ sees them cocking a snook at the dance floor crowd, an unrelenting beauty that channels the grittier elements of the Gang of Four’s trademark grind and marries it to the dub / disco crossover that Strummer and Co aimed for on the often overlooked ‘Sandinista’ throw in for good measure Big Audio Dynamite, a taster of Pigbag a few sly Ry Cooder sliding hooks and you have something of a dirty disco assassin that Bobby Gillespie you’d imagine would be happy to be caught in the line of fire of.’
Wise words and still they hold true given its exactly the same track on the player right now playing as I write (okay copy n’ paste) mind you we neglected to mention the seriously loose limbed and mooching R L Burnside blues blissed side winds and the tightly drilled cornucopia of hot n’ horny early 80’s NY dance floor vibe - oh yea and add in A Certain Ratio factor to proceedings. Limited to just 100 copies - can I have one please.
A video of them….
www.myspace.com/ponylandrecords

Apr 18, 2010
X-ray Eyes has edged closer to the number 1 spot this week, as it rises up 1 place to number 2. Huge thanks to everyone who has continued to download it over the last week, please forward the link onto to all of your friends to see if we can hit top spot this time next week www.tourdates.co.uk/the-scratch.

Also, Don't forget if you want a copy of the highly limited 10" single version which is officially released tomorrow (Mon 19th April), you can buy it from:

Sister Ray (London)
34-35 Berwick Street
LONDON
W1V 8RP

Jumbo (Leeds)
5/6 St.Johns centre
Leeds
LS2 8LQ

Crash (Leeds)
35 The Headrow
Leeds
LS1 6PU
United Kingdom

Resident (Brighton)
28 Kensington Gardens
Brighton
BN1 4AL

Spillers (Cardiff)
36 The Hayes
Cardiff
CF10 1AJ

Reflex (Newcastle)
Reflex CD 23 Nun Street
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 5AG

Action (Preston)
46 Church Street
Preston
PR1 3DH
United Kingdom

Avalanche (Edinburgh)
63 Cockburn Street
Edinburgh
EH1 1BS

Norman Records
Leeds Mailorder

Apr 15, 2010
As previously mentioned Ponyland records, have teamed up with the guys at rechargedradio.com to put together a release of their live 'in the basement' radio sessions, recorded in London during 2009.

It's a 12 track CD and features The Scratch's - Whatever Happened to Friday Night?, heard like it never has been before! (except on Recharged's myspace of course!)

The CD is going to be a FREE yes 'FREE' giveaway and will see light of day for the first time at the first ever Recharged Radio Awards show tonight at 93 Feet East. A show that will also feature a 30 minute live set from The Scratch (with rumours of new material being readied for the performance!) the event kicks off at 7.30 and is also FREE to get in!... as an exclusive freebie for the night the band will also be in possession of 10 copies of the highly limited edition 10" vinyl versions of X-RAY EYES, which isn't in the shops until Monday!!! (There's only 100 available in total, so beat the rush!!!!)

Rumour has it that the band will also be giving 50 'goody bags' to the first 50 'Scratchers' through the door, these contain not only one of 4 free singles, but exclusive ponyland records badges, made specially to mark the event!!!

HOW CAN YOU AFFORD TO MISS THIS!!!

Apr 15, 2010
Go to www.ponylandrecords.co.uk to hear Andy and Jordan discuss all things Scratch

Apr 14, 2010
If you get a minute, check our 2010 folder in our myspace pics (www.myspace.com/thescratch) for photo's of our Bar 62 gig on Sunday... big thanks to Mark Looby for his great work!

Apr 12, 2010
Don't forget to tune in tonight between 7 and 8 pm to rechargedradio.com to hear Andy talking about all things The Scratch and playing tracks from all three albums! This will no doubt be followed by a trip with Jordan to the local for a celebatory beer, following the bands number 3 entry into this weeks Tourdates chart!!! So if you're passing drop in and say hi!