Scum are, quite frankly, too young. Like, “someone needs to tell their mum that they’re swearing on stage” young. All jokes aside, at only 15 years old, Scum produce a mighty racket akin to Slaves and Idles, warming up the BBC Introducing stage in style.
All snot and shouting, the three-piece take the stage and immediately blast into a song which ends with singer Ezra Glennon spelling ‘S-C-U-M’ over thrashed guitars. Comparisons to Idles are clear at this point, but the band take it one step further by covering the haunting ‘10:49 Gotho’.
BBC Introducing has helped launch the careers of artists such as The 1975 and Sam Fender over the years, so a spot on this stage puts Scum in leagues with current and future headliners. What’s more, this was only Scum’s seventh EVER show. Seven shows and they’re fifteen. Playing Reading Festival. What were you doing at fifteen? Probably not playing Reading Festival.
The band revel in their youthful charm, shouting lyrics about avoiding revision and spiked remarks against the so-called ‘Tesco Gang’ at their school. They’re not fans of the Tesco Gang, so neither are we. With more shows and more songs under their belt, Scum have marked themselves as a band to watch going forward.
