The Story So Far
The self proclaimed ‘Kings of Wrestle Rock’ The Senton Bombs were formed in the December of 2003 in the sleepy seaside town of Bispham, Blackpool. Originally known as ‘The Terrorists’ they unleashed their unique brand of ‘Punk infected rock n roll’ onto the local scene in the summer of 2004 and by the end of the year were already creating a stir as a part of a local alternative rock movement.
Lead by former wrestling champion Joey Class (bass & vocals), The infamous guitar tag-team of the Kage brothers, Damien and Jimmy and ‘The Skin-Buster’ Johnny B. Bomb (Drums) quickly established themselves as one of Blackpool’s most promising bands.
Into 2005 they reached the semi-finals of the largest unsigned battle of the bands in the UK and began appearing regularly at top venues around the North-West. With the help of the growing rock collective(Known widely as FELCH) and local venue Jenx-Liquidlounge, the Bombs managed to raise £500 for the West Memphis 3 (www.wm3.org) in an effort to raise local awareness for an injustice against three like-minded individuals on the other side of the world. The year was complete with the release of their first record release entitled ‘DDT’, a 5-track EP which received solid reviews in Strummer and Blackpool Rox magazines respectively highlighting the tracks 'Fame & The Wicked' and 'Road of Bones' as superb anthems.
Riding high on the momentum of ‘DDT’ and numerous successful gigs, The Bombs popularity was at a high as they entered 2006. With a reputation as a high energy, passionate and entertaining band the gig offers began to pour in. Within 6 months they appeared at three different festivals: The Darwen Festival (headlined by the Blockheads), The Cellar Bar Charity festival (Blackburn) and The Summer Daze Festival. The latter saw Blackpool label ‘Just say no to government music’ release ‘The Ugly Truth About Blackpool Volume 2’ which featured The Senton Bombs ‘Surf 6-66’ from their next EP release ‘Death Valley Driver’.
‘Death Valley Driver’ was the Bombs 2006 offering and is arguably their best record to date. The 5-track EP was far superior to ‘DDT’ in terms of recording quality and the songs quickly became popular local anthems. Tracks ‘Violet Black’, ‘Justice Lost’, Surf 6-66’, ‘You Live You Buy You Die’ and ‘Rogue Style’ have since been featured on various compilations (Misery of Sound, The Ugly Turth About Blackpool Vol.2, UK:FY) and have been played on various radio stations.
2007 has been a bit of a rollercoaster for the strangely titled Wrestle-Rockers. Beginning the year playing support to a host of big bands including the Epoxies (Fat Wreck-Chords), The Imperial Vipers, One Way System and C.J. Wildheart (of ‘The Wildhearts’ fame), The Senton Bombs stepped it up a gear in an effort to move on to the big stage. After receiving great reviews following their appearance at Blackpool’s ‘Blasted Festival’ they released their latest record ‘Crimson Mask’, a 7-track EP mainly featuring songs from early 2004 that the band felt deserved to be recorded, but also contained the infamous live favourite 'My Girlfriend Was A Nazi'. To promote this and discuss their growing reputation and future ambitions, The Bombs were invited on the BBC Radio Lancashire show – ‘Brian’. Taking part in the 30 minute interview The Bombs outlined their intentions to continue writing their catchy brand of songs and to maintain and improve their intensely energetic live performances.
It was shortly after this that long-time friend and drummer Johnny B. Bomb announced he would be leaving the band to pursue his career as a record producer. With no changes from the original line-up in the initial three and a half years of the band it came as quite a shock to members and supporters alike. Fortunately, Before the spot was made officially open, The Bombs had received a number of offers to take on the Senton Kit. Amongst them was the 18 year old 'The Million Dollar' Manchild, who already had 4 years of live experience under his belt. It was a quick and easy decision for the band and no time was lost in transition.
Following a rocky period of cancelled live shows due to police intervention, venues closing down, fights on stage and general disruption the Bombs ended 2007 with the recording of 'From Parts Unknown', their fourth EP. Shortly after that 'The Manchild' departed after only a 6-month spell in the band.
With this set-back the latest in a number of unfortunate events that had plagued the band, Joey put out another advertisement for the vacancy behind the kit. It was then that the bands fortune would finally turn as renowned local mohawked drummer Mason was available following the split of his previous band. Mason joined up after only one week following Manchild's exit and the SB were back in action with only January, the first month since the December of 2004 that the band did not appear with a live performance.
With new life, optimism and enthusiasm in the band 2008 turned out to be a very successful year for the Senton Bombs, though there were more changes to come.
From Parts Unknown received great reviews and feedback and set the stage for the year to come. The tracks 'Buy Me A Gun', 'Nightbreed' and 'Charlotte Ann' displayed the Bombs versatility which enabled them to set out travelling, appearning on various mix-genre bills - supporting the likes of Random Hand and Instant Agony.
Continuing to perform live consistantly and getting rave reviews in Leeds, Manchester, Bolton, Birmingham, Burnley, Scunthorpe and Preston aswell as still haunting the Blackpool scene in their usual rocking style, It was in May of 2008 when original Senton Lead guitarist, co-songwriter and young guitar hero Jimmy Kage decided to further his musical education and head off to university. There was a time when Jimmy's departure would have been the end of the Bombs but through the foundation he helped lay, The Bombs would now fight on.
For the first time since their inception, The Senton Bombs became a 3-piece with Class, DDK and the mighty Mason Mohawk working and rocking harder than ever. The album Turn Heel became available containing 14 re-mastered tracks compiling the best from the first four EP's. Turn Heel was greeted with excellent reviews along with the trio's live performances as 2008 came to a close following a memorable headline slot at the Blackpool Summer Daze Festival.
2009 began with a 4-page interview in Distorted Magazine of which the cover featured long-time hero to the band - Rancid's Tim Armstrong. This was followed up with a 1-hour interview on Radio Phoenix where the Bombs outlined their ambitions for the year announcing that they had begun recording 'Sweet Chin Music', the bands first full studio album. Throw in a highly rated appearance at The Spit & Sawdust 3-day Punk festival in Stockport.
In February work began on the first full studio album Sweet Chin Music. In his new role of producer former SB drummer Ronny Bomb (FKA Johnny B. Bomb) set about recording 14 original tracks that were destined to over-shadow everything that had come before them. Although a reduced live schedule was opted for that didn't stop us rocking Cambridge, Bradford, Dewsbury, Stoke and Glasgow while the record was pending.
By the July of 2009 the record was nearing completion when long-time friend and fan of the band Johnny Gibbons (Devil 2 Pay, Hind-D) returned to Blackpool from Scotland just in time to lay some solo's down. The results were amazing leaving us to hot discussion about approaching Johnny to take over the vacant role that Jimmy Kage had left behind when he departed over a year prior. Like a nervous boyfriend we popped the question and like a scene in an applauding restaurant, he said yes and "The Unit" was formed.
With Damien Kage out of action for a month whilst he roamed the USA, We got Johnny quickly up to speed (240+ BPM in some cases) on all our tracks. It wasn't difficult and we soon realized that with this new line-up we may have finally cracked it. Damien returned, fighting back jet-lag to rock live in the new line-up - having never teamed with Johnny before, we unleashed the new-Bombs at the UFX 10-year anniversary party.
Since then it's been onwards and upwards. The album, now pressed, is selling fast and 2010 promises to be the Year of the Bombs... at least we can only hope and try. Fortunately - We're prepared to do both like never before. This is more than just a band now... it's a brotherhood... A unit... Four guys on the same page, of the same book, heading for the best sellers list. Even if we remain under the radar and maintain our disorganized-cult following, At least now, we can all say we're part of something and doing something that we love.
This is the story so far!