The static and squall of fresh hype closed in on Derry three-piece TOUTS as the teenage punks and caustic diarists of the mundane and maddening punched and kicked themselves into view five years ago. Holding fire and growing up out of sight as lockdown followed lockdown, the band – once described as “unhinged, angry and visceral” – return to release new single, Shane MacGowan’s Teeth, ahead of a new, four-track EP set to emerge in spring.
If society deserves derision and scorn then TOUTS are still the first out of bed to start the day, yet the pure fury and disenchantment of their youth has been shackled, clearing a path for bone-dry indictments of surreal modernity to be unleashed. Shane MacGowan’s Teeth, their first new release since late-2018’s Analysis Paralysis EP, flicks red hot cigarette ends at braindead celebrity culture and the accepted, bubble-gum-minded levels of public discourse that makes the world dumber by the minute.
A first breadcrumb dropped on the trail to a springtime EP release and the band’s live return, Shane MacGowan’s Teeth is an unambiguous reference to The Pogues’ front man’s widely-publicised dental work undertaken in 2015, featured in a one-hour TV special and resultant acres of news coverage and banal commentary. For TOUTS, there are more pressing matters and the track’s sleep-deprived recording session only emphasised its sense of urgency.
TOUTS’ Matthew Crossan says: “Shane McGowan’s New Teeth is “a simple desultory philippic” against the overlooked absurdity of our modern lives and the seeming inescapable throwaway culture that many of us celebrate.”
Watch the video for ‘Shane McGowan’s New Teeth’ – BELOW:
Admitting to have done away with their “16/17-year-old frustration and all that sh*t” and mellowed to more subtly express their distaste, the new TOUTS are preparing to tour again in 2022. Respecting the past rather than breaking from it, live shows will feature songs from their first, caustic releases, promising the guttural, melodic punk experience they won a reputation for.
Just out of school as a wave of new and largely welcome experiences tidal waved over them following the release of their 2017’s debut four-track EP Sickening and Deplorable, TOUTS first spin of the music industry wheel invited on media attention, national tours and major support slots with resultant thrills, spills and bemusement. The band’s clenched-teeth polemics, covering small-town claustrophobia and small-minded politics, made for good copy and paint-peeling live performances.
TOUTS are Crossan (vocals/guitars), Jason Feenan (drums) and Luke McLaughlin (bass).
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