London four-piece, The Skints, have clawed their way up from the depths of the underground punk/ska scene to a unique fixture on the global reggae stage. Drawing influences as wide as soul, pop, grime and hardcore, their original brand of “tropical punk” has seen them evolve into one of the hardest working and most respected bands in UK music.
Formed while at school in 2007, The Skints hail from the Waltham Forest and Redbridge boroughs of North East London,and they cut their teeth in London’s underground punk scene before venturing out of the M25 to play their first self-booked DIY venture and embark on a heaving touring regime across the nation’s “toilet venue” circuit. Debut album ‘Live, Breathe, Build, Believe’, released at the end of 2009, received late night/specialist rotation across radio including BBC Radio 1’s Punk Show, whilst 2012’s ‘Part & Parcel’, was the second full-length album by the band and further built their fan base and opened doors to heavy touring, festivals and markets outside of the UK and across Europe.
The follow-up album, the critically-acclaimed ‘FM’, released in 2015, reached number 5 on the Billboard Reggae Albums chart and number 7 on the Independent Albums Chart in the UK and saw The Skints tour relentlessly across the USA, Canada and Japan. Since the band’s inception, The Skints have toured extensively across the globe, playing hundreds of shows and festivals including Summer jam (Germany), Dour Festival (Belgium), California Roots (US) and ReggaeSunSka (France). In the UK, The Skints sold-out their most recent 10-date UK tour including Shepherd’s Bush Empire and have performed at the Reading and Leeds Festivals, Bestival, Glastonbury and Boomtown Festival, performing to 15,000 fans.
Supporting them is Faintest Idea! Faintest Idea take the bouncing beat of 2 Tone Ska and smash it over the head with fast, angry UK Punk. Hailing from the East Anglian region of Britain the rabble rousing political lyrics are shouted over layers of catchy brass lines and heavy boot stomping beats.