Night Bus Or Milk Train review on The Guestlist (Manchester and the North's unsigned music blog)

With rave reviews from the city's very own Clint Boon, winning XFM's unsigned competition and opening up the Versus Cancer gig in front of over 22000 people at the M.E.N arena you'd be forgiven for thinking that The Scratch are a Manchester band through and through. However, they hail from St Albans but seem to have been adopted by the city as one of their own. Luckily though their sound is not that of old school Manchester, they have taken their influences from the punkier sounds of the 70s and acts such as Primal Scream and The Rakes.
 Night Bus or Milk Train is the band's second album, and one that takes full advantage of their increasingly punk rock sounds.

Throughout there is a strong sense of Britishness, not least in the opener (and recent single) Numbers. They envoke all the classic punk bands - The Clash, Sex Pistols and T-Rex but with enough modern twists to make a sound they can call their own. 

The album is at once edgy and popular. The previously mentioned 'Numbers' is a highlight of the album, along with 'Dial Xero', 'Dear Maniac', 'Gas Taps' and the gentler album closer 'Undercover'. These are the tracks that most successfully combine the band's raw sound with melody and good old catchiness! 'Gas Taps' echoes the sound of The Clash, heavy guitar and thrashing drums along with lyrics that might not make much sense but they stay in your head long after the song finishes. The Scratch have all the makings of a good British punk band. What is plain is the raucous energy that fills the album and I can imagine the band are a top notch live act.