The past year has been one of sonic growth, milestone gigs and manky thumbs for Scabz, Newtown’s self-proclaimed shittiest band (but Wollongong’s best, at least according to a barefoot old hippy they played to at a near-empty Rad Bar).

The punk three-piece, led by noted table-climber Siobhan Poynton, have a knack for combining political wit with a bit of light-hearted fun, and it’s nigh on impossible not to have a little shimmy during their track ‘Beach Song’, or to feel revved-up during their frenetic protest song ‘Locked Up’. “For me, it’s just finding a line between like, punk and pub rock and being a feminist and political and being funny,” explains Poynton. “I’m starting to find it a little bit easier to get it all into one … I’m being a little bit more flexible with my writing.”

Scabz’s influences include various Aussie acts that have spent their careers redefining pub rock, from the antics — as well as the drum and guitar sounds — of Cosmic Psychos and the clever lyricism of The Peep Tempel to the direct, unfettered political messages of Bad//Dreems. “People are a little bit scared to experience new music. You hear the same 40 songs at every pub you go to every time you go out. You can be funny and can talk the same way on a song that you do down the pub without just having to talk about getting pissed.”

In the span of a single year, the band have been thrust out into the Sydney scene: they’ve played their first festival at Bad Friday in Marrickville with a guest guitar appearance from Lindsay McDougall; supported Sticky Fingers at the Enmore and Frenzal Rhomb at the Metro; and their track ‘New Song’ was featured on triple j’s short.fast.loud.

We’re at a position now where we’re comfortable as a band.

“We’ve got this whole thing going on about being the shittest band in Newtown,” says Poynton. “People come get drunk at our shows, have a good time and laugh, but I think this year people realised that we play like, half decent songs. We 100 per cent started as a bit of fun and now we’re all putting a little bit more effort into it. I think that’s why we got such cool shows. Our songs are slowly catching up to being the same level of good as our funniness,” laughs Poynton.

But it hasn’t all been highlights for Scabz. For the last few months Poynton’s left thumb has been locked up in a cast (which she nicknamed her “chipolata” because “it looked like a little manky sausage”) after it was broken on the footy field, and soon after bassist Loz Wiley cut her own thumb on a broken glass.

“It’s been like, recording-wise a set back,” explains Poynton. “But we didn’t have to cancel any gigs. We’re at a position now where we’re comfortable as a band, so we can be like, ‘Right, we need to hire someone to play guitar’ or, ‘Loz needs to sing this song so I can play bass and she can rest her bleeding thumb.’”

To cover Poynton, the band acquired their angel-faced “man prop”, Jono Tooke (guitarist of Basil’s Kite and previously for Bec Sandridge). “The only thing I actually really liked about not playing guitar was being able to just saunter on stage after the first song had already started,” Poynton says.

And yeah, while maybe being a bit of a goofball, Poynton has years of musical experience under her belt, and she knows her shit to a tee. “Yeah, I’m a big nerd. I grew up singing in a choir: the Australian girls choir, the one in the Qantas ad. I think that taught me a lot about how to be a good musician. I can’t stand it when people don’t bring their own shit to gigs.

“I can’t stand it when people are incapable of organising gear. I can’t stand it when people are late to things. I can’t stand it when people don’t know how to soundcheck; especially dudes who get to play later on the bill than us because of their willies, and they’re super unprofessional.”

I’m locking myself in my room for a month over Christmas and I’m gonna write an EP and we’ll see if I’ve achieved it.

Fans can look forward to hearing a couple of new Scabz tracks drop in the coming months, including the sonically uplifting ‘Poor This Week’. “I finished it, like maybe 100 different times,” she says of mixing the track. “It’ll be done by mid-October. We’re going on tour for it with The Nah in Canberra and then Downtown Boys in Wollongong. We’re also playing at Festival of the Sun for that tour and at the Lansdowne as well.”

But what else is in the future for Scabz? “I’m locking myself in my room for a month over Christmas and I’m gonna write an EP. We’ll see if I achieve that,” Poynton laughs.

There might be nupitals ahead, too. As Poynton explains it, drummer Lara Chrystal and Wylie may end up tying the knot, their way of honouring a long-kept promise. “It was [made] at another time when marriage equality was hot in debate; I think maybe it was about when Julia Guilard had the opportunity to pass and she kind of succumbed to the weight of the labour party… [Lara and Loz] were like, look if we’re both not married by the time we’re 30, then we’re going to get married. And that’s this year, so…”

Scabz play The Bald Faced Stag on Saturday October 28 with Batpiss and The Peep Tempel. 

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