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The Thompson Rollets formed in 1986 with Jean Jean (vocals/guitar), Igor (drums/vocals) and Looli (guitar/vocals) playing 60s/psych influenced music. After a few gigs without a bass player they lured Christophe away from a rockabilly band that he was tiring of. They started out playing gigs in their hometown of Perigueux, and after a while their sound began to take shape. During this time they got a gig opening for Les Thugs and Les Thugs drummer Christophe Sourice agreed to produce a three song demo for them in April 1988. The songs were "Bollocks Life", "The War Drags On", and "The Victim" ("War" was a Donovan cover, of all things). This got them a deal for a single with French label Go Get Organized, which was produced by Died Pretty's Brett Myers, a match that seems a little strange considering that the other things Myers has produced tend to be a little more mellow. The single was "Crazy Soldier"/"Never Be Like You", and a third song from the recording ended up on a compilation lp. After this it was decided that Jean Jean should drop guitar to concentrate on the vocals and they added Philibert and his Gibson SG to beef up the attack.
After a couple of fanzine freebie tracks, Christophe left the band and was replaced by Philippe (ex of the Scuba Drivers). With this line up they recorded a solid 8 track mini-lp called Thompson Rollets ; it was recorded in Germany and features a good variety of tracks all of which seem to have something different to offer. It's quite a switch from the way so many bands these days confine themselves to one very narrow style and seem extremely hesitant to venture away from it, but two themes stay the same throughout; strong guitar hooks and strong vocals. (Noise For Heroes zine)
