Formed at the end of 1981 this unique triumvirate is the eldest still active punkrockband in Belgium. After a quite busy starting-period with one change in the line-up, the band was adorned by a female singer between September 1983 and August 1984. By these means they became Belgian's only punkband with a young lady in their ranks. On top of that, between August 1984 and April 1985 they were the only band with an own fanzine (The Truth Is Revolutionary). On vinyl on the other hand THE DIRTY SCUMS started quite out of time by releasing a solid punkalbum in a period where the only music that mattered was hardcore. That first album was the second Belgian punk/hardcore-LP of the eighties, the first is from ZYKLOME A. On their second album (1987) hardcore-songs were integrated amongst the punksongs, while by then the trendy scene was already strongly influenced by metalmusic. At the time that punkrock was in again in 1989 and THE DIRTY SCUMS simultaneously reached a musical peak, most of the people forgot all about the band ... In between the band caused a rebirth of the Flemish evergreen by releasing two singles in the Dutch language, one in 1986 and one in 1988, but as it goes trendsetters, they stayed in this genre also unknown and alas also unpopular. Consider, dear readers, that the band never lost its sense of humour nor its energy.

THE DIRTY SCUMS are already playing for nine years now with the same three people, and they're hoping that this can be continued in the future. All products they make are always released on their own independent label DIRTY RECORDS. In Belgium they are one of the few bands which have an own label and which work totally independent. Up till now, three albums, two singles, and three tapes have been released on DIRTY RECORDS, a discografy you'll find at the end of this paper. And guess what, again THE DIRTY SCUMS are the only Belgian punkrockband with so much material on their list of honour. Beside that there exists also a large monthly saleslist consisting of work from close related bands, labels, and distributors. The line-up of the band is: PIK (leadvocals/guitar), ZJANTIE (drums/vocals) and JENZ (bass/vocals). All three are native of the same 19th century Flemish agricultural village called Zwevezele, and now they're all living in the same Flemish industrial small city Tielt, they just can't be separated.

At the end of 1991 THE DIRTY SCUMS had played in total about a hundred and sixty gigs. During their career there have always been cooperations with other Belgian bands like amongst others SPONKY BUSINESS, XCRETA, ZYKLOME A, NO NUMBERS, VORTEX, COLD TURKEY, ..., all these bands don't exist anymore. Now there are no more new cooperations, simply because THE DIRTY SCUMS seem to be the last survivors of this once very blooming period. In a recent past they sporadic have worked together with EARDAMAGE, MUSHROOMS, FLYIN' BIERBAKKEN, ..., but the relations weren't very intense anymore, and the bands nowadays even split up quicker than it was the case before. Apparently THE DIRTY SCUMS were the only band who really loved their music and still do.

Regularly the band plays abroad, up till now in the Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany. They have played as support act for amongst others TOY DOLLS (GBR), LA MUERTE, TROCKENER KECKS (NLD), ..., and they have played together several times with all other Belgian names in the hardcore-scene, well known from records, like HEIBEL, CAPITAL SCUM, BELGIAN ASOCIALITY, HATECREW, CHRONIC DISEASE, ... .

Appeared in
- Alternative Choice #2 (GRC) - October 1992 (translated in Greek)