The King Blues started off as a two man ska outfit, consisting of Itch playing ukulele/Vocals and Jamie Jazz playing acoustic guitar and contributing vocals. Current Member Jamie Jazz use to work in a music/guitar shop called Rock Around The Clock up in north London in Crouch End/Muswell Hill, however Jamie realised that in order to put The King Blues at the top, he had to leave his job. The band expanded to include a second acoustic guitar and a bassist, before again expanding to include two full-time percussion members. Their sound was initially described as “soulful ska with raw folk and a punk rock attitude” or “conscious rude boy ska”. In 2004 they self released a demo EP entitled “All Fall Down” featuring 5 tracks recorded by Itch on guitar and vocals. The cover and CD body art was a stencil of a fuse bomb and the band’s logo, each one was hand sprayed.
In June 2006 their debut album, ‘Under the Fog’, was released on Household Name Records which coincided with increased touring and gigs. In November of the same year, ‘Mr Music Man’ was released as a CD single, also on Household Name. The single was enhanced with a video chronicling the band’s attempt to play more gigs in a 24-hour period than Status Quo’s record-breaking four gigs in one day. The King Blues managed seven. Their single ‘Mr Music Man’ was voted Best Punk Song of 2006 by Radio 1.
In 2007 the band was signed to Field Recordings, a label co-owned by Rollo Armstrong and backed by Island Records. ‘Under the Fog’ was re-issued in March 2008, and was preceded by two singles, “Come Fi Di Youth” and a new version of “Mr. Music Man”.
In May 2008 the band released a single from their forthcoming second album ‘Save the World. Get the Girl’ called “Let’s Hang the Landlord” to all those signed up to their email list . The song takes them in a slightly different direction, opening with a violin. The lyric is both autobiographical and true, detailing Itch’s life as a teenage punk . The track was also released on a split 7″ single, alongside ‘Mayday’, the debut UK single by Flobots.
