Brothers Dirk Tourette (b. Francis Brannan, Liverpool, Merseyside, England; rhythm guitar) and Donny Tourette (b. Patrick Brannan, 1981, Liverpool, Merseyside, England; vocals) formed this controversial UK punk band in 2004. The brothers were raised in Liverpool on the Merseybeat sound, but moved to Uxbridge in outer London at the age of six. As teenagers they grew up listening to a mixture of old and new guitar bands from the Sex Pistols to Oasis (a picture later emerged of Dirk and Donny playing to Noel Gallagher outside his house "Supernova Heights" in the mid-90s), which made them focused on starting their own band. Meeting The Rev (b. Paul Mayers; lead guitar), Tommy Brunette (bass) and Snell (drums) in Uxbridge, the brothers formed and disbanded Brass Monkeys and the Lost Boys, before finally settling on the name Towers Of London in 2004.
From the early inception of the Towers Of London they seemed to find trouble wherever they went, with a string of court cases and violence at gigs, only fuelling the hype surrounding the band. Their music was characterised as a mixture of the Sex Pistols and the Clash, with a splash of Guns N'Roses (who they supported on the UK leg of their tour) and New York Dolls thrown in for good measure. With such interest and plaudits for the band, it seemed a chance missed when US producer Rick Rubin turned them down after hearing a demo. American label TVT Records, more famous for popularising crunk music, jumped straight into the bidding war and promised to propel Towers Of London into the stratosphere. In March 2005 their first single release "On A Noose", which started like a string-laden Oasis track then slipped into a full-on punk workout, reached the UK Top 40. The singles "Fuck It Up", "How Rude She Was" and "Air Guitar" followed. In June 2006 the quintet's debut album, Blood, Sweat And Towers, was released to rapturous reviews. Raging, roaring, slightly clichéd but lots of fun, the Towers Of London seem destined for platinum-coated gutters.
