In the summer of 1999 The Kings of Nuthin officially adopted their name and began playing outside of Boston. Their history is as messy and as ludicrous as it gets from 8 punks trying to re-create an authentic rock and roll sound, to their current out of control live sets and unique style of music. It is rare in the music scene today to see or hear of such a story of complete "fuck-ups""jack-asses" who some how managed to "get their shit together" and become the reigning force the Kings of Nuthin are today. Stereo-type them as what you want, but there are few other bands that comes close to what the Kings of Nuthin have been through or the sound that they create. Sometime in the late 90's frontman Torr Skoog returned home from the Bay Area out west to create a bastardized rockabilly act in Boston. The act started out as a 3-piece in a Jamaica Plain basement full of skate ramps and bicycle messengers that had a rotating line-up of messengers, punks, squatters and local scene heros. Liam Crill, one of the rotating drummers, had just been released from the city of New Orleans and had moved back up North and took over full time on the drums. The band took on the name "the Boston Blackouts" and found a rehearsal space in the Fenway section of Boston soon convincing local Cambridge thug Danny Edge to bring his sax over full time. The next practice "the Blackouts" convinced local ska "keyboard player?" Zack Brines that he should come down to the space and listen in on what was being played. Zack showed up the next day asking what he should play? The Blackouts then stole a 800 pound piano from the building thus incriminating Zack and blackmailed him into staying. Necro, Liam's traveling companion and local punk legend next started showing up to rehearsals on a regular basis to drink all the bands alcohol and out of the blue showed up with a washboard, as hard as the band tried to shake him, he wasn't going anywhere. After half a dozen guitarists (including Slick), Liam and Torr accidentily stumbled upon Justice in an after hours Allston party. Justice came back to the Allston wharehouse to audition, with only 2 other Blackouts playing (the rest had passed out on their own instruments) his playing was "adjective" and for one reason or another he stuck around. Next up local upright bass rockabilly legend Spike Katz was tricked into showing up at the new Charlestown rehearsal space with promises of "free beer" and piano. After Dannys death in 2000, the kings added on another two members old friend and guitar player Slick on baritone sax along with local Ska saxaphonist Tommy Bellevue. To this day the Kings have toured the country playing all different types of shows and places. from all-age punk matinees to late night drunken rockabilly shows, national hot rod venues to tattoo conventions, from DIY basement shows to sharing the stage with National Acts such as the Dropkick Murphys, the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, U.S. Bombs, Demented Are Go, the Robins and the Extraordinaires. The Kings have been banned from many clubs around the country for the audience they attract as well as their out of control live act (on and off the stage) and have stolen or destroyed more vehicles, pianos, reputations, and contacts than they might care to admit. Why any of the members ever ended up sticking around is a mystery and why the band never fell apart again is unknown. Through hard times, homelessness, constant equipment failure, many line-up changes and death, the Kings continue to crank out their own unique style of music and continue to win over new fans around the world.
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