80s Dutch punk band from Nijmegen here with their only record on Nep & Bedrog Records with five cool punk goodies with a nice Oi! touch. Excellent dirty kbd sound. Found much info from their web site and here's a small excerpt:
The Squats are probably one of the most controversial bands Nijmegen has ever known. The kind of teenagers you better could not have living next door to you. It seemed that they ruined more or less everything that came along their way, conform the Punks most used term in that time: DESTROY! An unbelievable 23 years ago (1978) three guys aged 14 till 17 years old from the "Grootstal" district in South Nijmegen watched the Dutch variant of 'Top of the Pops' (TopPop) on the TV and saw Iggy Pop shaking the nation up side down with his performance of "Lust For Live". The boys used to listen to stations like "VPRO"' and John Peel on the BBC on an old tube radio and they were heavily bored. But one thing was sure: They not just wanted to listen to punk, they wanted to play it. First thing the trio did before even owing any instrument was to chalk the whole of Nijmegen with the (future) band name: The Bored. In the fall of 1979, the three were able to buy a bass guitar and drumkit, changed the name into "The Squats" and placed an add in the local news paper for a guitarist. In the months following, the band had their first appearance in the local venue "Doornroosje", shocked a school in Nijmegen during a highschool band festival, and did another gig at "Doornroosje".
The early 80s have been the most productive years, lots of gigs were played and they also started recording in the studio, result was a demo called "The First, The Best, The Last?" which was released on their own "Nep En Bedrog (Fake & Fraude) Records" label. In 1981 borrowed all the money, found a studio close to town, smacked down 5 songs on 8 tracks in a couple of hours and the 'Noise Overdose" EP was a fact. 500 copies were pressed, and again released on their own label and sold out in 2 months. For sure, notorious they were, obnoxious and rude as well, call them arrogant, irritant, and ignorant but what else should you expect from 17 year old teenagers on speed, on the dole, in the early 1980's playing in a punkband from Nijmegen? That's how teenagers should behave. And after all, musically, it was a great punkband!
The Squats on compilations: Oi! The Rarities Vol.2, Punkrock From Holland, Oi! Rare & Exotica Vol.2 and Oi! Made In Holland 2. Brilliant Stuff!!!
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