The itch (Accrington-England).

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Cast your minds back, oh dedicated mature reader, to the late seventies. Lady Thatcher was about to rise to power, nobody knew who Madonna was and Michael Jackson had an afro. Out of the ashes of so called rock and roll of the time, like Elton John and Simon and Garfunkle (i kid ye not, they were classed as rock and roll!) rose the phoenix of punk music. The look was defined. The hairstyles were rather large and pointy, the clothes were ripped and dirty and every face had more holes than a mistreated colander. If you're too young to remember the times, look up 'The Young Ones' on Youtube! You'll soon get the idea. Anyway, the music was fresh and new, injecting some much needed va va voom into the flailing British scene. Bands like The Clash, The Sex Pistols and The Ramones led the way for an army of under-appreciated teens who wanted to be heard.

And so punk music was born. The energy this created in the British youth made way for a reinvention of the pre-punk mod movement and the two genres fused together. Led by the likes of The Jam and The Chords, 'punk-mod' music was a widely loved genre, giving voice to the new generation. There were little rules to this new form of music, the bands having free roam of provoking lyrics and wailing guitar chord sequences. But to lable the music as uninventive and careless would be inaccurate. It's all well and good making a noise, but making a noise that people want to listen to is a whole different ball game.



And that's exactly what Accrington based band The itch do. They make music that lots of people want to listen to and have been doing since the early nineties. Founded by brothers David and Colin Benmore in 1992, The itch (or at that time Technical itch) aimed to fill the gap in the market that had been left gaping open when the music scene moved on into Brit-pop territory and everyone got caught up in Oasis and Blur. They enlisted Pat Gallagher and Mark Griffiths and started to write and perform locally. They recorded a few tracks which caught the attention of legendary Radio One presenter John Peel, prompting him to call David and express how fonf he was of their music. 1997 saw the release of their first album and after enjoying success on the mod festivals scene, vocalist Pat decided he was going to call it a day, leaving the future of the band hanging. They decided to continue as a trio with bassist Mark taking over lead vocals job and they have enjoyed great success ever since. They are one of the most well known names on the local scene, and they regularly support mainstream acts like The Buzzcocks, Stiff Little Fingers and Bad Manners etc.



Although their music is based on a foundation which was typical of a certain period in time, it would be wrong to assume that the music is dated and stale. It is anything but. Their writing is fresh and innovative, manipulating the sound so that it is as relevant and modern as any other local bands. They are expessive and imaginative with their structural work, from complex bass riffs to inventive drum lines and happy, bouncing guitar work. The live presentation is tight and worthy of being recorded and presented alongside their studio work and more importantly, they fill venues, ensuring that the crowd buzz with the atmosphere that is created by this well oiled and experienced group of musicians, proving that there is still a demand for politically and culturally inspired music.



And i really hope The itch continue to give the people what they want. If you are too young to remember it the first time round, give it a try this time and go see The itch.



They perform Locally fairly often, so take the opportunities. A list of their upcoming gigs can be found on their Myspace site at www.myspace.com/theitchaccringtonengland or check out their Facebook site at http://www.facebook.com/people/Theitch_Biz/1192832390



Many thanks goes out to Martin Cooper at THE BIG GIG, in the March 19th-25th, 2008 issue of The Darrener, as most of the above was taken from an article wrote by Martin in that issue.