Pool Of Sound - The Bandits

The Bandits

Formed in 2000, the band first appeared on the Honey Records' 2001 'Beatin Planks' compilation album, which featured early versions of two songs, 'Take It And Run' and 'Free Me Rain'. Their line up at the time consisted of John Robinson on vocals, Gary Murphy on rhythm guitar, Scott Dulson on bass guitar, Tony Dunne on keys and Neil Crosbie on drums. Scott Dulson and Tony Dunne had previously been members of 'Tramp Attack' and John Robinson is an old boy of the same Quarry Bank School attended by John Lennon and John Power of 'The La's'. Gary said that there was a gang of them who all started school at West Derby Comprehensive in 1990, two from their band, two from 'Tramp Attack' and three from 'The Zutons'.
The band then brought in David 'Swee' Sweeney on drums, and throughout 2002 auditioned for a lead guitarist eventually recruiting Ritchie Taylor, who lived in Wallasey at the time. They are most notable for their singles 'Take It And Run' and '2 Step Rock', which both reached the Top 40 in the UK Chart.

Having signed to B-Unique Records, they released, via Warner,  a succession of singles throughout 2002 and 2003 as well as releasing their only album 'And They Walked Away'. Their sound is a mix of classic Merseyside bands like 'The Coral' and 'The La's', and the album is indicative of the music coming out of Liverpool at the time it was released.

'And They Walked Away'

A review of the album at the time stated, " 'And They Walked Away' is an album that somehow hangs together despite previous criticism and is very telling of the time. Unlikely to win the band any new fans it seems that 'The Bandits' are at the crossroad between the eclectic bands such as 'The Coral' and 'The Zutons' and on the other side, 'The Stands' and 'The Basement'. Still playing up to the Spaghetti Western image, it's on a previous single 'Once Upon A Time' where this is most obvious, but you can imagine the sun setting and the cowboy riding into the distance on 'Wake Them At Sunrise' and a horse back chase on 'Hung Or Hunger', it seems the connection runs deeper. 'Take It And Run' is a good old knees up in the salon with beers being cracked open and maids slapping their thighs. In other places they touch on reggae with 'Chaos In The Courtroom' and driving rock & roll with 'On My Way'."

'The Bandits' famously also ran their own club night at The Zanzibar Club in Liverpool known as The Bandwagon. Besides becoming very popular, more importantly, it helped launch, or furthered the careers of local bands such as 'The Coral', 'The Zutons', 'The Hokum Clones', 'The Stands', 'Tramp Attack' as well as themselves. The club night was known for its wild west style posters and stickers, designed by Scott Dulson. These nights were almost always often sold out, featuring, besides local unsigned bands, some of the days' most prominent bands, including 'The Libertines' and others.
Following months of rumours, the band's split was finally confirmed in July 2004, with rhythm guitarist Gary stating, "I really do believe that we'll record something again in the future. We're all just doing different things at the moment".

Following the split, John Robinson, Gary Murphy and Scott Dulson played a handful of gigs, doing reggae covers as 'The Bum Notes' with Nick Miniski (ex-'The La's', later of 'Free Peace') on drums. Robinson, Dulson and Miniski then went on to form 'The Pedantics' with Stu Gimblett (also later of 'Free Peace' with Edgar Jones and Miniski) .
John Robinson co-wrote and played on the song, 'I Am the Rain' from Pete Doherty's solo album 'Grace/Wastelands' in 2008 and Robinson and Murphy joined Doherty on stage during his solo tour in 2008-9.
Gary Murphy went on to work at Starwood Management (home to 'The Kooks' and 'The Ordinary Boys' and run by former 'Mansun; and 'Cast' manager Rob Swerdlow), and was involved in the early career of Candie Payne. In 2011 Gary Murphy played a series of acoustic shows with Lee Mavers of 'The La's'.

see also :- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2020/04/pool-of-sound-zutons.html