Scarfo

One of the most exciting new live acts on the London scene of the mid-90s, Scarfo are led by Jamie Hince (vocals, guitar), a Goldsmiths College drama graduate and a man possessed of extraordinary self-belief and steely convictions: ‘The thing people should realise is that music is life-threateningly important. People should want to take a bullet for their favourite band. It’s a punk thing. Music should be fucking dangerous and subversive, and it just isn’t like that any more.’ With a line-up completed by Al Saunders (drums) and Nick Prior (bass), Scarfo formed in Andover, before relocating to Deptford, London, in early 1995. After a handful of performances in the capital, they signed with Deceptive Records, but not before recording a debut single for Fierce Panda Records. However, encouraging reviews in the music press were forgotten when, at the beginning of 1996, Saunders was run over by a car after leaving a pub. By the time he had recovered and the group’s debut album had been prepared, the music scene had shifted, with critics turning to a fresh generation of bands. Nevertheless, the 12 tracks on Luxury Plane Crash, characterized by Hince’s obsession with low-life living and crime, were at least the equal of the bands who had stolen Scarfo’s thunder - among them Placebo, led by Hince’s old collegiate friend Brian Molko. As part of Hince’s much-touted commitment to ‘changing things’, Scarfo played a series of concerts in young offenders’ prisons in Warrington and Prescoed. In the meantime, an excerpt from the album, ‘Alkaline’, reached the UK charts for the first time. In the early 00s Hince linked up with Alison Mosshart to form the duo, Kills.