Search - Thee Sgt Major III :: The Idea Factory

The roots for Thee Sgt. Major III date back to 1979, when legendary guitarist/producer Kurt Bloch formed The Fastbacks. They made bright, tight and explosive music that wasn't quite Punk, not quite Pop and totally distinct. When they disbanded in 2001, Bloch initiated a new band, Sgt. Major, recruiting Young Fresh Fellows band mate Jim Sangster and ex-Posie Mike Musburger. In 2007 the current incarnation took shape with Leslie Beattie (Cantona, Flatpack) on vocals.Their first full length, The Idea Factory, contains the wit, optimism and feisty schoolboy angst that Bloch articulated in his songwriting for The Fastbacks. Expert musicianship and high-cool grace are tempered by scrappy garage punk leanings, jazz longings and a winking kind of macabre, not at all serious but seriously killer. Each of The Idea Factory's 13 songs are a sort of controlled explosion, the recipe for which is this: take a well-built, 1960's pop music machine and stuff it with The Who and some Ramonesy punk rock. Blow it to bits. Start again.