Fronted by the charismatic Stephen Lamb, 'The Gentle Scars' is a five-piece group serving up a punkish rock with two fingers stuck firmly in the face of expectation with bass player Martin Dempsey, Claire Rogers on guitar, John Murray on guitar and John 'Johnny Boy' Hase on drums completing the line-up of a band which began around 2010. Martin (ex 'Yachts', 'Pink Military' and the 'Mel-O-Tones') says, " I've been involved for about the last 5 or 6 years. The band with Steve and John (Murray) had been going for about 10 years before that. They started off with a band in Runcorn called 'Nation of Addicts', later he said the bass player and drummer had gone and he asked me to join. So, I said, yeah, we'll give it a go. We started writing new stuff between us and that basically changed the direction of the band altogether. In 'The Gentle Scars' we create expressive music, music that crucially says something. Punk became a kind of mainstream, that's not what we're going for. Think about artists like Brian Eno – his brilliant album, 'Here Come The Warm Jets', was largely ignored at the time – but later it was appreciated. Lots of bands try to second-guess their audiences, but we do what we want, I guess like people like Eno were doing."
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| Outside Que Pasa Cantina on Lark Lane. |
Their 2015 'Invaders' EP certainly showed an ability to evoke a resonant response too, with a raucously riffing title track, 'Invaders' underlining their attitude. A further two original songs follow, 'Dirty Like You' and 'Shadow Of A Kiss' which has the atmospheric moodiness the band do excellently, as they summon up strong guitars and raw vocals infused with a kind of dirty drama and atmospheric intensity they manage to channel so well. The EP is completed by a 'Mel-O-Tones' cover, 'Burton Buzz'. Since then, Ivan emphasizes, they have gone even further to fuel up their sound with a wild, raw resonance. Witnessing them live is recommended, as support slots for the likes of 'Stiff Little Fingers', 'Brix' and 'The Extricated', 'Electric Six' and 'Deaf School' have proven, plus a headline show at Liverpool's O2 Academy, as well as a range of immersive gigs, highlight the gripping presence of the group.
June 2020 saw their new album, ‘Songs For The Loveless’, released by Detour Records with Guilty Dog Records. Joined by Michael Livesley on keyboards, they have created something new, something that resonates at a higher level. We are confronted by a band that have drawn their cloaks about them and stepped out of the shadows. Like warrior alchemists, they stride out from the mists of their years of experimentation and bring us their gold. Part punk, part Springsteen, the sound is firmly in America as opposed to their native Liverpool roots. It's just a proper rock out needing to be played loud, but, it does have its serious moments, too. 'The Pusher', being one of them, about a rumoured serial killer prowling Manchester’s canal network. And the last track, 'Shadow of a Kiss', is a glorious riot of prog rock. The album made with the still fresh scent of the punk ethos lingering, was written, recorded and mixed in about a 500 yard radius of Lark Lane. Most of the songs conceived and written in the Que Pasa, recorded at Livo's lounge by Michael Livesley and remixed by Graham Pengelly. Martin says of the band's changing line-up, "We've had several drummers and several other guitarists over the years. We get bored! What happens is, we get on a vibe and then decide we want to change that vibe and we need a different kind of player. That’s the way it goes." Playing at the Stockroom in the Kazimier Garden in 2020 Steve decided to swing on the lighting rig about a quarter of the way through the set. He fell off and then fell off the front of the stage smashing both wrists, but still carried on playing until they got to the end of the set.
see also:- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2021/11/pool-of-sound-rivia.html
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