Ten years ago I happened to read a newspaper article about a small festival of The Dirty Scums as a result of their fifteenth anniversary and the release of their fourth record. Bonus with that record was a compilation of the first three albums and singles, and both were once more endowed with very typical and comprehensive titles: “The Pils Sessions” and “Setting new Standards to Stupidity”.

It was then about 20 years ago that Dirty Pik and myself had spent some very turbulent years at a secondary boarding school in Roeselare. That period started in the school year of 1976-1977, and at the age of 15 and 16 we got acquainted with the phenomenon that shortly afterwards would control Pik’s life to a great extent: PUNK. “Proud to be a Punk” would become his life motto.

Punk in 1977

Through radio and TV we heard the new music and could gain further information through the numerous music magazines in those days, which gave a lot of attention to the new phenomenon. Although the better rock music didn’t leave us indifferent (even glitter and glamrock/pop were OK then), we were touched by the total swing in the world of music: simple 3-chord songs sprinkled with a good squeeze of social criticism put a whole new class of bands on stage. You suddenly didn’t have to be a Pink Floyd or some other Yes-virtuoso anymore to be able to perform! Think of bands like the Undertones, Buzzcocks, Electric Chairs, Penetration, X-Ray Spex, Adverts, Sham 69, and of course the big names like the Clash, Sex Pistols, Jam and the American Ramones. In Belgium you had the Kids, Chainsaw, P.I.G.Z., Stagebeast, and so on, back then. We collected the first punk bands on cassette, ’cause all pocket money went to booze & chicks too, already in those days. The legendary “Rocket to Russia”-cassette of the Ramones of that time (still in my possession!) later turned out to have greatly contributed to the start of The Dirty & Thirsty Scums. One of our first punk concerts was of The Kids in Lichtervelde.

It was just at the very beginning of Pik’s musical career that – amongst others because of our punk attitude at school – our friendship was ended shortly afterwards (just temporarily) because of the expulsion from boarding school of yours truly, for which I still cannot express my thanks to the school gentlemen! You still owe me those first 15 years of Scums!!

Blues in 1997

“People you used to know, are now the last ones to be on a show”. This line from “Symptoms of the grown-ups” of the album “Full speed ahead!” has thus got a double meaning for me. After this statement had turned out to be true for about 20 years (as it seems to be with a lot of contemporaries) fate brought us together again on a blues concert in Pik’s hometown Tielt. And what I had thought to be impossible was true, in fact we both hadn’t changed a bit. We both had applied our former ideas to our own lifestyles and careers. As a farmer I tried to start my own business in an independent way as much as possible. Meanwhile in a period of fifteen years of try, try, trying again, Pik had, as a singer-guitar player, got his Dirty Scums where he really wanted them: independent from any music business he steered his band on a course they are still taking now with success (on an underground level of course).

The start

In 1977 Ian Dury had a hit with “Sex & Drugs & Rock’n roll”. If this isn’t the best definition of the phenomenon “The Dirty Scums”! However, they took the liberty to formulate it in their own way: “Booze, Chicks & Dirty songs.” The last ones (or maybe all three of them) preferably “Full speed ahead”, which brings us to the titles of the first three albums again. They represent about one quarter of all Belgian punk and hardcore albums produced in the eighties! They are the first part of their 25-year-old career, which can be called the strongest of the Belgian punk scene, or maybe of the Belgian scene as such.

Recording songs costs a lot of money and punk wasn’t the most popular music genre with the public at large. It was really fighting a losing battle. Lyrix were mainly a complaint against the establishment and against politix that very often have no time for the man in the street, and most certainly not for punx. The Dirty Scums screamed it out on their first two albums and the Martens single: “We hate cops”, “Fascist cops don’t give a fuck”, “Martens, jij ouwe rukker”, “Martens, you son of a bitch”, “They dropped the bomb” and so on… In addition to that personal experiences are very important in the Scums texts, a soft spot thus in the rough punk diamond. Sadly enough this doesn’t really buy your way to performances and recording contracts.

D.I.Y.

Of course The Dirty Scums knew how to find a way to get out of this problem. They released all their records and CDs on their own label “Dirty Records”. The splendid covers and booklets are all work of their own. Their non-profit organization “The Dirty Scums” brought forth a lot of punk babies in the meantime: records, CDs, but also tapes, fanzines, T-shirts, mail order with their own material and with material of friendly bands, ... In this way they managed to reach the majority of the interested punk public. They organized a range of punk festivals and all this on an absolute pure Do It Yourself-basis with a dose of energy seldom seen with a Belgian (punk) band. Also their website is a unique piece of their own with a wealth of punk information. In short, the classic example in fact of the D.I.Y-movement, with a lot of fans in true punk circles.

This definitely means that all organizational work, installation of sound equipment, clearance after the concert, and also their merchandising has to be done with personal efforts, which doesn’t go without saying if you take into account Pik’s (one of the few) smaller demerits in the field of punk: his forever striving for a degree of perfection. Because of this everything is mainly done small-scale with the help of friends, but with all the more power and inspiration.

Maybe this is the main connecting thread in those 25 years that now lie behind them. Whereas commercial interests and material lifestyles destroy the authenticity and the power of the music with a lot of punk bands, the Scums have always obstinately gone their own way. Nevertheless they all three perfectly managed to adapt to society without losing their identity. Already from the charges they make for their gigs, it becomes clear that even after all those years their consumption of alcohol is still the main standard and not (as it is with many other bands) the recommended price, which is negligible.

Music & Lyrix

Something that struck me when I first came into contact with their music is that in spite of its rough character, time and time again they manage to create recognizable songs. Few words only but yet a sense of melody. This is probably inspired by the music they listened to in the seventies, a youth influence.

It goes without saying that their music has evolved: starting from ’77-punk variations were made on the first three albums. Hardcore and speed metal are named, I rather see it as “momentarily losing track of the speedometer”: faster songs and a somewhat “heavier screaming killed pi(g)(K)” (see: cover of “Full Speed Ahead!”). On the fourth and fifth record and “Somethin’ Else”, which wasn’t released separately, you could hear a few trips to a more accessible sound, of course without losing track of the very own typical sound. Especially these numbers in a way reveal a songwriter talent that is perhaps somewhat less obvious in the real punk songs. However it will always remain impossible to pigeon-hole The Dirty Scums, and although their sources are to be situated with the Clash, Ramones, Sex Pistols, Sham 69 and the like, in fact they have simply built their own private pigeon-hole.

After Jenz leaving at the end of 1997 (originally bass-player and later on second guitar-player) as a trio they returned to the more raucous punk sound of former years, but with a regular wink at fun punk and the main subjects being beer, booze and women (see: the completely altered “Bob de B(r)ouwer)” and the older “Clint Eastwood” that they recently perform live again). Throughout the different stages however, it remains clear that they’ve never made any concessions as to their songs or sound. Even during the more recent “punk”-waves that got a lot of radio and TV attention with a sound that much more aimed at pop-punk rock (Janez Dedt and other Nailpins), The Dirty Scums just kept on going their own obstinate way. They even uncompromisingly survive the current hardcore wave.

Side projects

Even the side projects that they meanwhile started with an enormous amount of energy and drive are a clear indication that they remain faithful to their own sound. Their performance as the Dirties is often followed by a second part: THE THIRSTY SCUMS, a cover program with numbers of the Ramones. Not just imitating their classical songs but with the typical Scums sound on speed, applied to a number of songs mostly from the beginning years of the Ramones. The best example of this is their Ramones-medley: 4 minutes of compiled Ramones madness! This cover-project ultimately resulted in the CD “Black leather, Knee-hole pants”.

According to me also the cooperation with GAME OVER shows that the Scums have a strongly personal sound. After the young band GAME OVER splitting and only their singers remaining, the Scums still found the energy to take care of the remaining performances as guest musicians. These turned out to be a whole set of successful concerts in the “Tour of the Belgian Pubs”, where the energy boost culminated as these nights resulted in three full performances ahead of the three Dirties. The fact that the sound was very much the Dirty Scums sound was probably one of the reasons that the original Game Overs eventually shelved their mikes and went completely different ways.

Friends

Although I have mainly been talking about Dirty Pik, the Scums have always been a real band of friends. They do not only make music together, they are also real close in other domains, which probably explains their being together for 25 years without too many changes of strength. Another bonding force was quite surely the “Belgian Beer”. This number, which is still really doing great live, probably contains the biggest passion of Dirty Keez, Zjantie and Pik besides music. And the fact that they definitely get beyond a few “Jupilerkes” is proved by their knowledge and love for an extensive collection of beers. This also inspired them to organize a regional beer night, just a way to mix business with pleasure and filling the D.I.Y.-coffers at the same time. This way they also managed to make friends and join forces with other punk bands, which is quite typical for punk circles mainly operating on a D.I.Y.-basis.

The Next Episode

Anyway “The First 25 years” shows great promise for the future. The quality of the recent new numbers that are played live (“Not a girl”, “Police Control”, “Bob de Brouwer”, “Nowhere to go”, and so on) shows that they can still display the same energy and at the same time take their music one step forward.

On the principle “for the time we live on earth, should we bother all day” (from their “Bother all day”) The Dirty Scums as well as yours truly will start another quarter century. Personally I’m really looking forward to the next studio-CD!

October 2006

LABEL NOTES

Disc1

Digitally (re)mastered at TVA Music Company Bassevelde on 08/11/2005
Finalized at TVA Music Company Olen on 22/06/2006

Disc 2
Songs 21 up to 25 remastered at Barefoot Studio Tielt on 03/11/2005
Digitally (re)mastered at TVA Music Company Bassevelde on 20/12/2005

Released on 25/12/2006 on Dirty Records as DR778
All notes by Dirty Pik
Artwork by HaVannes
Retrospect by Boer Hugo / Translation by M.-Christine
CD Produxion by TVA Music Company Olen

Write The Dirty Scums at Kapelleweg 10 - 8700 Schuiferskapelle - Belgium
Visit The Dirty Scums at www.thedirtyscums.com
E-mail The Dirty Scums at thedirtyscums@yahoo.com