London Scat Party is Back

BUSAN, South Korea -- In my decidely un-humble opinion, Busan has the best local live music scene in Korea. And one of the hardest working bands for the last two years has been London Scat Party. Yet, we almost lost them earlier this year.

Five months ago, everyone thought that the ‘Party’ was over. Their lead guitarist and co-founder, Aaron 'A-Bomb' Kuchle, had relocated to Hansebittillenburg, Germany, but it did not take long before he knew exactly what he needed to do: come back and reunite with his former bandmates- Mike McArthur (vocals), Danny ‘PNU’ Panozzo (guitar), Kim Walshe (bass) and Alice Nettleingham (drums) - and continue to provide the high-quality musical product they had been giving audiences in pubs, clubs and festivals throughout Busan.

LSP started as a modest punk/alternative cover band. Upon re-forming, they have promised to stay true to their roots, while expanding their playlist to such bands as Joy Division and to start churning out more originals.

While I can go on and on about the band,  London Scat Party must be experienced live to be truly appreciated. The heart and soul of the band is lead singer, Mike McArthur--think Iggy Pop without the intentional blood. When he is fronting the band, their shows are pure energy, and it is a given that Mike will be shirtless before he rips into his signature song "Teenage Kicks." 

Die-hard Scat fans, known as Scat-Faces, enjoy the passion on stage and bar owners cringe at the prospect of the sound equipment exploding at any time in Kim Jong-il nuclear fashion. The excitement they generate playing their "spunk rock" earned them the top prize at the 2010 S.O.B, a month-long band battle held annually at Basement Club in the PNU area.

Interviewing them for this article proved bewildering. Aaron claims the band is the first ever to have covered a Ramones song. And Mike's answer to a question about influences was "I like to listen to the Clash while I mow the lawn. A small rebellion in the midst of suburban drudgery."  And the drummer, Alice Nettleingham, said something that sounded very interesting, but she is English so I didn't really understand it through her heavy Brit accent.

Their responses reflect the band's performances - interesting, fun and a bit irreverent.

LSP is set to have their first come back performance at this year's third round of S.O.B at Basement on Friday, October 21. To get into the finals, they plan to play the show of their lives while facing last year's runner-up Levine (Daegu), new comers cHoL (Jangsan) and Citizen (Daegu).

For more info on the S.O.B. battle of the bands, which runs through November 5th, check out the Haps event page or Facebook.

Here is the upcoming line-up:

10/15 Road Crew, SOON-Su and the Innocents, Semins, Buzzed Luck

10/21 Levine, London Skat Party, cHoL, citizen

10/22 Hajimama, Genius, Jake and The Slut, Self Made Hero

< BIFF Comes to an End < Read More > Bellflower: What You Can Do with $17k >