Born Shit Stirrers - Scratch N Sniff LP

Fukuoka, Japan’s most notorious punk troublemakers Born Shit Stirrers are back stirring the shit with a new album, Scratch N’Sniff. With members drawn from the US, UK and Japan, they draw on influences from Screeching Weasel, Schlong and Black Flag, while their music is often compared to the East Bay sound — in particular Lookout! Records, though also with the rough edged grit of the Very Small Records scene. Following on from 2020’s “Lester”, they’re not a band content to stick in just one place, though, and Scratch N’Sniff darts around hyperactively from hook to riff, joke to rant, movie sample to fart sound.

The band’s lyrics range widely too, with the album featuring 26 raucous broadsides slagging off everyone from the leaders of the free world to the snobs and dickheads they meet at the bottom of the music scene gutter, taking in internet porn and 1980s British soap operas along the way. They don’t let themselves off the hook either, firing all their snotty punk rage and frustration at the sordid details of middle aged life.

The first album to feature bassist Brian Starkey, Scratch N’Sniff also includes guest vocals by Mark from Down & Outs, Chris from Chopper and Paul from The MSGs. I