The Scratch lads are back, this time with a song about a randy ghost handing out wanks.

We interviewed the lads on the weekend, talking about their formation, new releases and their new track/video ‘Cúnla’ – check it out here.

We spoke to the band about the new single:

“The song itself has been around for many years, the earliest versions we’ve found were unaccompanied and sung in the gaelic tongue.

Later versions by Planxty and The Dubliners were the real inspiration for us to do the song. The melody is great and I thought it would translate well with our set-up.

When we sat down to learn it, after reading the lyrics online we started to form our own opinions of what the song meant. Although it never explicitly says it, we determined the songs protagonist was a succubus by the name of ‘Cúnla’. Previous versions of the song had never really said that outright so we decided to do that ourselves, by rewriting the last two verses.

Hopefully carrying on the tradition of passing it on in a way that can be understood today, without taking anything too seriously, meaning included. Also it’s just a very funny experience to sing about a ghost giving you a wank.

The idea for the video came about because we wanted to do something simple, in one location, that wouldn’t cost any money. We wanted to shoot it and get it out asap and this was one of the first things that came to mind. So even though it sort of took on a life of its own and became about a kind of ritual in which a man is transformed into a woman, by another man who has already been turned into a woman.

We really just wanted to get it done quickly and cheap. We shot it in the community centre across the road from our gaff in Dublin 12.

Get it right up ye – The Scratch – Cúnla:

Catch ‘The Scratch’ live: