Pinkerton Thugs

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The Pinkerton Thugs
Origin	Kennebunk, Maine
Genre(s)	Punk rock
Years active	1994–2000
Label(s)	VML Records Go-Kart Records
Members
Micah Smaldone Paul Russo James Whitten Tom Gatton James Lynch

The Pinkerton Thugs are a punk band from Kennebunk, Maine. While the band officially became the Pinkerton Thugs in March of 1996 (taking their name from the infamous Pinkerton National Detective Agency), the band has been together since July of 1994 under a number of different names. The band, which consists of vocalist/guitarist Micah Smaldone, drummer/vocalist Paul Russo, and bassist James Whitten drew influence from punk bands such as Sham 69, the Clash, Conflict, and Crass as well as Woody Guthrie's political ballads. They were known for their spirited live performances as well as their radical anarchist political views. Attempting to put their ideas to action, members of the band formed a now-defunct collective called the Anarchist Liberty Union which set out to distribute anarchist literature for free and establish better communication between activists. During most of the band's existence, Paul Russo was also a member of Boston band The Unseen, whom the Thugs often played shows with.

Their recorded debut was a 7" E.P. titled "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit Of Shit" that was self-released on the band's own Police Records in the U.S. in August of 1996 and re-released by Nefer Records in Canada. In addition to that record, The Pinkerton Thugs released two full albums ("The Pain and The Pinkerton Thugs" on V.M.L. Records in 1997 and "End Of an Era" on Go Kart Records in 2000) a split seven inch with the Ducky Boys, and a 7" on Go Kart Records titled "The Times." The bands later recordings saw Paul Russo playing both drums and guitar in the studio while Tommy "Von" Gatton, who joined the band in late 1998, played drums live. Shortly after the recording of "End Of An Era" Smaldone left the band to concentrate on playing rockabilly with The Racketeers. The band played a handful of live gigs with Scott from The Unseen and Bill Brown of Crash and Burn filling in before James Lynch of The Ducky Boys joined as a permanent member. He only played one show with the band before he left to join The Dropkick Murphys and the band fizzled out, playing its last show in February of 2000 at the Karma Club in Boston, Massachusetts. "End of an Era" was released posthumously in June 2000, some 18 months after it was recorded. The band officially disbanded in October of that year, announcing their break-up via their webpage.

Following the band's demise Micah Smaldone and Tommy Von formed a hardcore band called Cops and Robbers which broke up in 2001. Smaldone has subsequently released two solo folk/blues albums and played guitar with Out Cold, the Shods, The Racketeers, and Fire on Fire. Tommy Von went on to play in Cut the Shit and The Prowl and is currently playing with a band named Ironsides. Paul Russo continued to play with The Unseen before recording his own solo music under the name Paul and The Strings. Paul has since formed a full band line-up to play his new material and therefore changed the name from Paul and The Strings to Americana Romantic.

The Pinkerton Thugs officially got back together in 2008 and are playing shows!

[edit] Discography

Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Shit 7" (1996) (Police/Nefer Records)
The Pain and the Pinkerton Thugs CD (1997) (V.M.L. Records)
Another Day, Another Story split 7" with the Ducky Boys (1998) (Police Records)
The Times 7" (1999) (A-F/Go-Kart Records)
End Of an Era CD (2000) (Go-Kart Records)