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Formed: Sydney, Australia

Tribute acts, generally, are slavish facsimiles paying cringing homage whilst saying 'Thank you for the music': Bjorn Again, T-Rextasy, Bootleg Beatles etc. Punks being punks, however, The Saints found themselves the subject of a 'Fuck You' band instead when Ed Kuepper (original member from 1974-1978) decided that he'd had enough of Chris Bailey carrying on recording with various pickup bands as The Saints. Legend has it that in the late '80s Bailey asked Kuepper to re-join The Saints, and was laughed at. Ironically, Bailey hadn't been trading on The Saints' fame at all and was still making vital and interesting music in a much less punky fashion. (Though to be precise, The Saints at the time weren't making any music due to legal wrangling with their American label).

All that aside, The Aints harked back to Kuepper's early punk years, but what set The Aints apart from The Saints was the length of the songs: the Aints sure liked to jam. And with ex-Celibate Rifle Kent Steedman on board Kuepper had a bandmate who knew how to rock as well, as can be evidenced on the live debut S.L.S.Q. - Very Live! (1991).

It didn't take Kuepper long to drop the Saints covers, ditch Steedman and drummer Tim Reeves (formerly in Mungo Jerry and, in the mid-'70s when they were fading, T-Rex), recruit an entirely different band and start issuing original material, with subsequent studio albums Ascension (1991) and Autocannibalism (1992) adding a saxophonist. Having turned The Aints into a “proper” band, Kuepper naturally knocked it on the head soon after the third LP was released.

Although they will always be a footnote in the history of The Saints, they don’t deserve to be.

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