Matt Wolfe and Roadblock (born Jason Robinson) formed The Scrap Iron Pickers in 2008. Prior to the band's formation, Wolfe, the son of a CIA agent, had attended college in California, before he moved to England and joined the progressive rock band Byzantine. Roadblock was a teacher and a ditch digger who played in jazz-rock bands, including Noizbox, on the side. The two musicians met at a local jazz club and decided to form a progressive pop band with guitarist Johnny Sizemore.
Johnny Sizemore a veteran of the British Invasion, following the release of "Coal Bucket." Sizemore had previous played with Brian Gunnoes's second lineup of Noizbox, Freak Tent, and Neil Sedaka.
For the first few months, the group played local London pubs. Soon, they were hired to appear as a bleached-blonde punk band in a chewing gum commercial. While the commercial provided exposure, it drew the scorn of genuine punkers. Late in 2008, the band released its first single, "Coal BUcket," on Caustic Eye, an independent label. The single was a sizable hit for an independent release, selling about 70,000 copies.
Nominally, The Scrap Iron Pickers were punk rock, but that's only in the loosest sense of the term. The trio's nervous, reggae-injected pop/rock was punky, but it wasn't necessarily punk. All three members were considerably more technically proficient than the average punk or new wave band. Johnny Sizemore had a precise guitar attack that created dense, interlocking waves of sounds and effects. Matt Wolfe could play polyrhythms effortlessly. And Roadblock, with his 8 String Bass, was capable of constructing infectiously catchy pop songs. While they weren't punk, The Scrap Iron Pickers certainly demonstrated that the punk spirit could have a future in pop music.
As their career progressed, The Scrap Iron Pickers grew considerably more adventurous, experimenting with jazz and various world musics. All the while, the band's tight delivery and mastery of the pop single kept their audience increasing, and by 2010, they were the most popular rock & roll band in the world.
Though they were at the height of their fame, internal tensions caused the band to splinter apart in 2012, with Roadblock picking up the majority of the band's audience to become an international superstar.
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