The Kings of Nuthin'

The Kings of Nuthin' was an 7-9 piece American punkabilly, punk rock and rhythm and blues band from Boston, Massachusetts. Formed in the late 1990s, they released four albums and disbanded after the death of their lead singer in 2013.

The founding members of the Kings of Nuthin' were the core group Torr Skoog (upright bass), Liam Crill (drums) and Chris “Necro” Wilkinson (washboard). Originally a three-piece band with a changing line-up of punks, bike messengers and squatters, they began meeting in 1996 in a warehouse filled with skate ramps in Jamaica Plain, Boston. With a slightly larger line-up, including a singer and up to two guitarists, they performed under the name Saturday Night Specials.^[1][2]

From 1998 to 1999, the band performed under different names (e.g. Boston Bootleggers^[3] but mainly Boston Blackouts^[1][2][4][5]) and the line-up changed several times: Slick initially played second guitar, and experienced bassist Spike Katz was persuaded by Torr Skoog, who then switched from bass to vocals.^[1][6] After the personnel change, they quickly made a name for themselves in rockabilly and psychobilly circles.^[5][7][8][9]

As they increasingly played outside Massachusetts, they changed their name to the Kings of Nuthin' in the summer of 1999,^[5][10] naming themselves after the jacket club Kings A' Nuthin' from Orlando, Florida, where Spike Katz was touring with the Racketeers and thought the name would fit the band perfectly.^[1][11] Subsequently, there were members who contributed to both groups, for example, the interlude in the song "Kings of Nuthin'" was spoken by a member of Kings A' Nuthin'.^[1]

They recorded their first demo tape in 1999 at Boston's 7A West Studio with the following band members: Torr Skoog (vocals), Justin Hubbard (guitar), Zack Brines (keyboards), Spike Katz (upright bass), Danny Edge (baritone sax), Liam Crill (drums) and Chris "Necro" Wilkinson (washboard).^[2] Studio owner Caglianone described their early style as 50's roots rock with a punk twist.^[4]

In October 2000, they released their first EP Get Busy Livin' or Get Busy Dyin', signed to Reckloose Records. A Boston Phoenix review presents their style as urban jump blues “bolstered by some tough punk attitude" and compares Torr Skoog's vocals to those of a cartoonish Tom Waits.^[12] The German punk zine Ox-Fanzine wrote that the Kings of Nuthin' offer hard, fast and dirty rock'n'roll in its purest form, which lies somewhere between Stray Cats and The Meteors, and clearly stands out from the broad mass of neo-swing and rockabilly bands.^[13] A second reviewer of the magazine describes the album as "an extremely swinging combination of punk rock from the street, psychobilly and casual, laid-back rhythm & blues".^[14]

After the death of saxophonist Danny Edge in November 2000,^[15] the band added Tommy Bellevue (tenor saxophone) as a new member and again Slick (now on baritone saxophone).^[1][10]

The band was invited to the annual Hometown Throwdown music festival, hosted by the Mighty Mighty Bosstones and featuring local bands from the Boston area, and played at the Axis (now House of Blues) in Boston in December 2000.^[16]

In 2001, the Kings of Nuthin' performed together with Joe Clay in Boston^[17] and were finalists in the Rock & Roll Rumble.^[18] This "battle of the bands" sponsored by WBCN-FM began in 1979 in the Greater Boston area and became the longest running event of its kind in the USA.^[19][20]

In September 2002, their first studio album Fight Songs for Fuck-Ups was released on Disaster Records. The style of the album is described in an AllMusic review as follows: "The mid-20th century roots elements are supplied by the saxes, piano, washboard, and standup bass. The punk comes across in the manic fast tempos, fuzzy guitars, singer Torr's gruff half-or-more grunt-shouted vocals, the hardcore-like trade-offs between the lead singing and backup anthemic choruses, and abrasive lyrics."^[21]

In 2003, they were recommended by the Dropkick Murphys^[22] and embarked on their first European tour,^[23][24] known for their out-of-control performances with burning instruments.^[16][25]

In February 2004, their songs "La Chupacabra", "Where do We Go?" and "Drive All Night" appeared on the soundtrack of the PC version of the video game Crazy Taxi 3.^[3]

In March 2004, the band released a split with LA's The Briggs^[26] and three month later contributed the song "Cry, Cry, Cry" to the album Dear Johnny...A Tribute to Cash,^[27] to which the Austin Chronicle writes that it elevates Johnny Cash to the same punk level as the Ramones.^[28]

In December 2005, the album Punk Rock Rhythm & Blues was released on People Like You for the European market^[29][30] and appeared on the American market in April 2006 under the name Over the Counter Culture on Sailor's Grave Records.^[31][32] It has been described as a really fun and energetic mix of 50's rock & roll, swing and big band music channeled through vintage street punk influences and not lacking in serious songwriting.^[32] An Upstarter review even certified The Kings of Nuthin' as redefining an entire musical genre: "Much like their hometown brethren, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, The Kings of Nuthin' have done for Rock and Roll what the aforementioned did for ska."^[33]

Between 2006 and 2007, they shared the stage several times with the U.S. Bombs during their extensive European tour.^[34]

The album Old Habits Die Hard was released in May 2010 on Sailor's Grave Records.^[35][36] Like the two previous albums, it was recorded at Outpost studio in Stoughton, MA, (Dropkick Murphys, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, The Ducky Boys, The Unseen, Blood for Blood), and well received by the press:^[36] "Like a fine wine aging its way to perfection", the band, which also includes "one of the tightest brass sections of Boston", "has never felt so cohesive". Their "50's rock & roll hybrid with punk" has been described as more complex than before, with its interesting tempo changes and time signatures.^[37][38]

In June 2013, the body of singer Torr Skoog was found by police and firefighters at his home in Quechee Gorge in southern Vermont. The investigation concluded that it was a suicide, and the Kings of Nuthin' disbanded as a result.^[39][40]

Until April 2014, Torr Skoog was part of the exhibition "This Is Boston Not LAme", which referenced the seminal 1982 Boston punk compilation "This Is Boston, Not L.A." and featured "four generations of Boston punk rock" in photographs by Gail Rush, Tara Feely, Nicole Tammaro and Dave Tree.^[41]

Some of the musicians mentioned here were not always named as official members of the band, e.g. Jon Natchez,^[42] although he was featured on all songs on two albums. Other musicians such as Matt Murphy, Tom Quartulli,^[43] Anant Pradhan^[44] never became members, as they occasionally replaced studio musicians on tour but never recorded in the studio.

Former members

• Torr Skoog – upright bass (1996–1998), lead vocals (1998–2013)
• Liam Crill – drums (1996–2013)
• Chris Wilkinson – washboard (1996-2002, 2004–2008)
• Danny Edge – tenor saxophone (1997–2000)
• Slick – rhythm guitar, vocals (1998), tenor & baritone saxophone (2001–2003)
• Justin Hubbard – electric guitar (1998–2004)
• Zack Brines – piano (1999–2013)
• Spike Katz – upright bass (1999–2004)
• Tommy Bellevue – tenor saxophone (2001–2002), baritone saxophone (2003-2004)
• Hayden Cummings – tenor saxophone (2003–2007)
• Thomas Lorioux – upright bass (2004–2007)
• Trafton Waldrop – electric guitar (2004–2007)
• Jon Natchez – baritone saxophone (2005+2007)

Former touring musicians

• Jon Natchez – baritone saxophone (2000)
• Matt Murphy – upright bass (2003-2004)
• Tom Quartulli – tenor saxophone (2003+2004+2005+2006+2007)

Timeline

According to a podcast with saxophonist and early band member Slick, singer Torr Skoog was influenced by the Stray Cats and the Mighty Mighty Bosstones in the time leading up to the Kings of Nuthin' first recordings, while Slick himself was influenced by The Cramps and Link Wray.^[1] Zach Brines described in an interview that the cover versions of Over the Counter Culture are the musical roots of the band.^[45] The album features covers by Anti-Nowhere League, Peter and the Test Tube Babies, Blitz, Stiff Little Fingers, Eater, Hank Ballard and the Midnighters as well as Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. In another interview, he said that Boston's music scene as a whole has inspired him, as all the bands have influenced each other and share a common spirit.^[8] Liam Crill called Earl Palmer and Scott Pittman of the Shods and the Frank Morey Band his favorite drummers.^[46]

The Kings of Nuthin' formed a sound that was both a tribute to the past and a break with musical conventions. Primarily through the vocals of their frontman Torr Skoog, they created an unmistakable blend of mid-20th century roots music and the energy of punk rock. Their sound fused elements of rhythm and blues, street punk, swing, rockabilly and psychobilly, some of which were also referred to as rockabilly revival or punkabilly.

Their early recordings were oriented towards urban jump blues,^[12] roots rock^[4] and classic rock'n'roll, played hard, fast and dirty with an aggressive punk attitude^[13] and strong rockabilly^[8] and psychobilly influences.^[14]

On their first full-length album, the Kings of Nuthin' moved away stylistically from psychobilly in favor of rhythm & blues, which was called a "hyper-rockabilly style" by Punknews,^[16] an "extremely swinging combination of punk rock from the street" by Ox-Fanzine^[47] and "a crazy mix of rockabilly, swing'n'jive and rudimentary garage punk" by PlasticBomb.^[48]

Their genre fusion matured with Over the Counter Culture, which was intended as a synthesis of their past work, while expressing their wide-ranging influences.^[8] According to laut.de, the European title Punk Rock Rhythm & Blues provides a perfect description of their style.^[49]

On Old Habits Die Hard (2010), the band remained true to their style, but showed increased compositional complexity with tempo changes, intricate time signatures and a strong horn section.^[50] Critics lauded this “50s rock’n’roll hybrid with punk” a cohesive evolution of their roots^[36] and definitely the best thing they have released since their early days.^[51]

Although their career was cut short by the untimely death of their vocalist Torr Skoog in 2013, The Kings of Nuthin' left behind a strong discography and an unforgettable live reputation, known for igniting burning pianos or saxophones onstage. In general, their musical legacy emerges from the tension between the rebellious abandon of 1950s rock & roll and the aggressive rhetoric of punk, whose sound they enriched with their unusual choice of instruments as upright bass, piano, washboard and tenor/baritone saxophones.

• Get Busy Livin' or Get Busy Dyin' (2000)
• Fight Songs for Fuck-Ups (2002)
• Punk Rock Rhythm & Blues (2005) /
  Over the Counter Culture (2006)
• Old Habits Die Hard (2010)

• Shit out of Luck (2001)
• The Kings of Nuthin' / The Briggs (2004)

• Official website
  (Archived on May 31, 2008)
• The Kings of Nuthin' at AllMusic