Ska supergroup (our description) Rudebeard, release what is their debut EP, ‘Smell Yer Ska’.

The band – founded by members of The Amphetameanies and their old counterparts the Newtown Grunts – formed six months ago, the four-piece swelling to six or possibly seven members – in ye olde ska style.”

The EP is available digitally via Threads of Sound, but released by F&J records – the revitalised Flotsam and Jetsam label, which in the 1990s released singles by the two bands as well as early Franz Ferdinand and Mogwai rarities via their Beatroot singles series.

Recorded and produced by Graeme Mearns, the five tunes – ‘Inside Out’, ‘Hopeless Romantic’, ‘Ring O’Stanes Karaoke’, ‘Au Revoir’, and ‘Smell Yer Ska’ – are the first fruits of recording, with more material planned for digital release, with a possibility of physical product in future.

Described as a “band of divorced dads and functioning alcoholics” by bassist Gordy Davidson, involved are “several folk who’ve known each other forever, but never collaborated. All it took was a few marriage break-ups and a redundancy for it to emerge as a thing that needed done.”

The personnel list reads thus:
Rod Drysdale (Newtown Grunts, Joe Viterbo) – vocals
Ali Hendry (Randolph’s Leap, Amphetameanies) – trumpet
Graeme Mearns (Joe Viterbo, Legendary Graeme Mearns Band) – guitar/vox
Fudgie McFadden (Strung Out Nights, Cherry Reds) – guitar/vocals
Olly Farell (Bombskare) – keys
Gordy Davidson (Amphetameanies, Capone and the Bullets) – bass,
Adam Lawson (Newtown Grunts, Amphetameanies) – drums

The band’s next live show is with Root System and Bullets and Arrows at The Greenside Venue in Leslie on Saturday May 18th.

More at www.facebook.com/rudebeard