History
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It all started way back around 1995 in Gloucester, MA when little Marlon learned how to play the guitar. He wanted to start a band so he asked his brother Emile if he would like to play drums (AKA forced him to play drums). In the summer of '96 They start a band with Jon, (who is now the horn player for the ska band Crowd Control) on bass and call themselves the "Young Souls". Shortly after his acquisistion, Jon stops playing bass to pursue his true passion, saxaphone since he really, really sucked at bass. They then pick up their cousin Jamison to play bass for them. A few songs later and they start to play shows. They play a "Battle of the Bands" concert at the Gloucester House resturaunt in Gloucester, MA and come in 2nd place. They begin to feel really confident on their musical abilities. Although, they feel that Jamison needs to improve his bass skills to become even better. Soon after the "Battle of the Bands" around October of '97, Emile and Marlon decide to form a new band focusing more on ska. The Young Souls continue to play, but reharsals and gigs are less frequent. With the addition of Mike on bass, Sean on guitar, and Jon on sax, the "Ska Town Rats" are formed. In December of '97, The Young Souls get the opportunity to go into the studio and record 4 songs. Again, there are differences with Jamison and the CD turns out bad. The Ska Town Rats play their first show at the bandstand at Stage Fort Park in Gloucester, MA around sometime in May 98'and it went well..... (they met some hot chicks from out of town, but unfortunately did not get laid, DAMMIT!!!!). The Young Souls do not formally break up, but they stop playing together (AKA Emile and Marlon don't talk or associate with Jamison). In June of '98 they then decide to pick up Mike, The Ska Town Rats bassist. Quickly after, Jamison is told the upsetting news about the his fate. A few rehearsals and new songs later, they change their name to "The Scoundrels" (YEAH!!!!!; Marlon was the one who came up with the name. It just seemed random 'cause he just said it out loud while we we're trying to figure out a name, but according to him he put together a bunch of cool punk band names and he somehow came up with it). After just a few gigs, The Ska Town Rats break up due to musical differences in September of '98. Sean is completely devastated. He also begins a horrific drinking problem. Just after a few months together, The Scoundrels create over 50 oringinal songs and are very pleased with what they've done. Sean then decides to join the struggling punk band "High Strung", which he reforms (and later ends) and his drinking problem ends. The band goes on to play with The Scoundrels many times. Around February '99 Marlon writes several songs with horn parts and Jon makes several brief appearances with the band. He still plays when asked (when he gets off his lazy ass once in a while). In May of 99', The Scoundrels start playing real shows (AKA not shitty ones in blues bars' where old people hang out and get drunk and think your hilarious). To their surprise, people love them and they become more popular within the scene. Such songs as "The 80's", "Back Again", and "Going Down To The Punk-Rock Show" become instant crowd favorites. On July 9, 1999, The Scoundrels play at The Artspace in Gloucester, MA with Boxing Water, High Strung, Crowd Control, and The State Boys and record a live CD. The show gets sold out quickly and everyone has a great time. On September 24, 1999, The Scoundrels and the rest of the bands from the July 9th show play a "CD Release Party" in which they release the CD compilation that Rick Gabodis recorded "A Night At The Artspace" with two songs from each band. The night is a huge success by selling out the show and selling over 70 CD's. Shortly after the release of the Artspace CD, The Scoundrels feel confident on making their own CD, so they called upon a great musician by the name of Dave Vincent, from the local blues group the "Megawatt Blues Crushers", to help in their recording (since he had all the cool equipment to record with). They end up doing only a few songs when they decide that they can make a better recording. The CD is currently on hold for now until they get their act together and get good equipment and come out with some new songs.
