Formed in Edinburgh, Scotland, during 1984, this pop band used guitar inflections enthusiastically borrowed from The Buzzcocks. They were originally titled Buba And The Shop Assistants and released a solitary single, ‘Something To Do’, under that name. With only 500 pressings on the obscure Villa 21 independent, it has gained a reputation among record collectors for its monetary value as well as the spirited songwriting. Mainman David Keegan (guitar) was joined by Alex Taylor (vocals), Sarah Kneale (bass) and twin drummers Ann Donald (replaced in 1986 by Joan Bride) and Laura McPhail. ‘All Day Long’, on the Subway Organisation label, was allegedly Morrissey’s favourite single of 1985, but by this time they had garnered adequate plaudits from their exposure in fanzines and magazines. The following year’s release on the 53rd & 3rd label (jointly set up by Keegan with Stephen of The Pastels), ‘Safety Net’, reached number 1 on the UK independent chart.
Signing to the major Chrysalis Records label saw the release of the Shop Assistants’ debut album, which made a brief appearance in the Top 100 and then disappeared -as did the band. When Taylor left in 1987 to form Motorcycle Boy the critical acclaim dried up. Keegan also left, taking up a post as a skiing instructor, while Kneale and McPhail went back to college. They re-formed in 1990, with McPhail switching to bass and Margarita taking her place on drums. One of the singles produced, ‘The Big E’, was, typically, a tribute to the guitar chord rather than the fashionable drug of the period. By this time they had signed to Andrew Tulley’s Avalanche label, although their status in the independent scene has been somewhat eroded by the passing years. Keegan would eventually make a permanent commitment to The Pastels. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Patti Smith may get a great deal more credit as the godmother of punk, but the archetype for modern-day feminist punk should really be traced to Poly Styrene, leader of first-wave London punk legends X-Ray Spex. Styrene was undoubtedly one of the least conventional frontpersons in rock history, male or female -a chubby, half-white/half-Somalian teenager who still wore braces, not to mention a loud Day-Glo wardrobe. She sang in a raw, untutored scream that quavered and shook when she looked to extend her range, a vocal style echoed by riot grrrls like Kathleen Hanna and Corin Tucker. Witty and intelligent, she attacked corporations, consumerism, and artificiality with a winning sense of humor. Mixed feelings about her time in the public eye helped lead to a quick exit from the music business, but her place in punk history was already secure.
Poly Styrene was born Marion Elliot in London, and formed X-Ray Spex in 1976, after seeing a Sex Pistols gig and deciding she could do that too. Their debut single, "Oh Bondage, Up Yours," became a punk rallying cry, and single-handedly anticipated the riot grrrl movement of the '90s. One year after the highly acclaimed full-length 'Germ Free Adolescents' appeared in 1978, X-Ray Spex disbanded. Styrene went out on her own and released her solo debut, 'Translucence', on United Artists in 1980. Jazzier and subtler than her work with X-Ray Spex, the album threw some fans for a loop, but won critical praise all the same.
Even less predictable was Styrene's next move: not long after 'Translucence', she quit music to join the Hare Krishnas, which perhaps made sense in hindsight given their lack of concern for the material world that Styrene so often railed against in her music. She resurfaced briefly in 1986 with an EP for the Awesome label titled 'God's & Goddesses' [sic], and also contributed Krishna chants to a Dream Academy track in 1990. In 1995, she reunited X-Ray Spex for a second album, 'Conscious Consumer'. Recorded with her daughter Celeste Bell, the “Black Christmas” single appeared in time for 2010’s holiday season. Styrene’s 'Generation Indigo' album was released a year later along with its electro-pop single “Virtual Boyfriend.” Mere weeks after 'Generation Indigo's release in the U.K., she died in her sleep on 25 April 2011 after a battle with breast cancer; Poly Styrene was 53 years old. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Minor Threat was the definitive Washington, D.C., hardcore punk band, setting the style for the straight-edge punk movement of the early '80s. Led by vocalist Ian MacKaye, the band was staunchly independent and fiercely sober. Through their songs, the group rejected drugs and alcohol, espoused anti-establishment politics, and led a call for self-awareness. Every song was fast, sharp, and lethal, often clocking in at just around a minute. Their speed and fury often hid their fairly catchy melodies, but the band's main function was to vent rage. Over the course of three years, Minor Threat released two EPs, one album, and several singles, all of which were quite popular in the American punk underground. Their records and concerts helped spawn straight-edge, an American punk lifestyle based on the group's intense, clean-living ideology. Following the disbandment of Minor Threat, MacKaye formed Fugazi, who became one of the more popular American indie rock bands of the late '80s and '90s.
The origins of Minor Threat lie in The Teen Idles, Ian MacKaye's first band. MacKaye formed The Teen Idles while he was attending Wilson High School in Washington, D.C., and after he graduated in 1980, he founded the Dischord record label with the intent of putting out his group's records through the label. Shortly after graduation, The Teen Idles had broken up and MacKaye had formed Minor Threat with former Idles drummer Jeff Nelson, former Government Issue bassist Brian Baker, and guitarist Lyle Preslar. By the end of the year, Minor Threat had released the singles "Minor Threat" and "Straight Edge," and had played many concerts along the East Coast. Throughout 1981, they followed this same pattern, playing a lot of concerts and releasing 7" singles. That year, they also released two EPs, 'Minor Threat' and 'In My Eyes', both of which compiled their singles.
In 1982, bassist Baker had left and was replaced by Steve Hansen; Baker later played with the Meatmen, Junkyard, and Dag Nasty. With Hansen on board, the group recorded their only full-length album, 'Out of Step'. Upon its 1983 release, the album became popular within the underground and Minor Threat were becoming alternative stars, which didn't sit well with MacKaye. By the end of the year, he broke up the band. MacKaye and Nelson continued to run Dischord, which thrived well into the '90s. The pair also played together in another band, Egg Hunt. Following the disbandment of Egg Hunt, Nelson played with a variety of bands -including Three and Senator Flux- before devoting his energies to running Dischord. MacKaye played with Embrace, Skewbald, and Pailhead before forming Fugazi, who carried on the aesthetic, if not the sound, of Minor Threat. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
After leaving the seminal New York no wave outfit Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, poet/actress/vocalist Lydia Lunch (b. Lydia Koch) embarked on a solo career marked by frequent collaborations and band changes, plus an attitude of confrontational nihilism expressed in both her sound and her often violent and/or sexually oriented subject matter. Upon leaving Teenage Jesus, Lunch first formed Beirut Slump, but departed after one single. Her solo debut, 1980's 'Queen of Siam', proved to be one of her most acclaimed efforts, as was her next band, the funk-inflected 8 Eyed Spy. However, that band broke up due to the death of bassist George Scott, and Lunch went back out on her own.
After 1982's '13.13', which featured former members of The Weirdos, Lunch began a rash of collaborations, working with The Birthday Party on the EP 'The Agony Is the Ecstasy', as well as Einstürzende Neubauten, Die Haut, Sort Sol, Swans' Michael Gira, and members of Sonic Youth. Lunch founded her own Widowspeak label in 1985, immediately delving into spoken word with the EP 'The Uncensored Lydia Lunch' and reissuing much of her back catalog, including a two-CD retrospective, 'Hysterie', in 1986. Her next collaboration was the first of several with Jim "Foetus" Thirlwell, who remixed a shelved project with Birthday Party members from 1982-1983; it was issued as 'Honeymoon in Red' in 1987. The two also released the 'Stinkfist' EP under Thirlwell's Clint Ruin alias in 1989. That same year, Lunch teamed with Sonic Youth bassist Kim Gordon in Harry Crews, a one-off, all-female noise rock band, for the LP 'Naked in Garden Hills'. Aside from an EP with ex-Birthday Party guitarist Rowland S. Howard in 1991, 'Shotgun Wedding', plus her acting career in underground films, Lunch concentrated on the spoken word arena into the '90s; a three-CD retrospective of this aspect of her career, 'Crimes Against Nature', was issued in 1993, and Lunch continued her activities throughout the decade.
During the first decade of the 2000s, she switched primarily between spoken word and music -though she continued to publish her writing and, occasionally, acted- evidently as inspired and active as she was during the first years of her career. Though a confusing number of anthologies and reissues were released during this time, Lunch continued to produce a large volume of new material, highlighted by 'The Devil's Racetrack' (2000), 'Memory and Madness' (co-credited to Gallon Drunk's Terry Edwards, 2003), 'Willing Victim' (2005), 'Touch My Evil' (with Anubian Lights, 2006).
In 2007, Lunch and Omar-Rodriguez Lopez collaborated on a self-titled mini album, physically issued by the Netherlands' Willie Anderson Recordings label, and digitally by the guitarist's. It was followed by the limited-edition issue of 'Amnesia' by Contemporanea in 2009. She also recorded as Big Sexy Noise in a trio with Gallon Drunk's James Johnston and Ian White that year; it was released by Cherry Red and followed by a European and Australian tour.
'Twist of Fate', a live collaborations with sound artist
Philippe Petit from a concert in Berlin, was released in 2010 and also
featured a film of the show. Lunch continued to perform at museums and
theaters internationally as well as taking photographs, which have been
exhibited globally.
2013 proved to be a prolific year in the artist's career. Her live band offering, 'Retro Virus' (her backing trio included guitarist Weasel Walter, drummer Bob Bert, and bassist Algis Kyzis), was issued by Interbang, and followed by a double album with Petit entitled 'Taste Our Voodoo' and an experimental trio set entitled 'Medusa's Bed' with Zahra Mani and Mia Zabelka. In November, Lunch performed a new work, 'Dust & Shadows' in collaboration with videographer Elise Passavant as part of the Louisville Museum's 21 century exhibition, "Aftermath: Witnessing War, Countenancing Compassion".
In June of 2014, the artist and guitarist Cypress Grove delivered a set of gothic Americana love songs called, 'A Fistful of Desert Blues'. The pair reteamed for a split album with doomy European folk outfit Spiritual Front on the album 'Twin Horses', which was released in early 2015. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
The Guana Batz were part of a British wave of psychobilly that sprang up in the early '80s, around the same time that bands like The Cramps were gaining underground prominence in America, and more straightforward rockabilly revivalists like The Stray Cats and The Polecats were hitting the charts on both sides of the Atlantic. The group was formed in the English town of Feltham, in Middlesex, in 1983, with a lineup featuring vocalist Pip Hancox, guitarist Stuart Osbourne, bassist Mick White (also of the similar Meteors), and drummer Dave Turner; White, an electric bassist, was soon replaced by stand-up acoustic player Sam Sardi. Playing hopped-up rockabilly with the speed and aggression of punk rock, The Guana Batz fit nicely into the British psychobilly scene epitomized by The Meteors, The Stingrays, The Caravans, and other bands who played at the good-naturedly rough Klub Foot in London. As such, the Batz landed a deal relatively quickly, releasing their debut EP, 'You're So Fine', on Big Beat Records by the end of 1983. An appearance on the Stompin' at the Klub Foot compilation netted them a better deal with ABC/ID, which released their full-length debut, 'Held Down...At Last!' (aka 'Held Down to Vinyl...At Last!'), in 1985. A follow-up, 'Loan Sharks', appeared a year later, and proved an even bigger underground hit (at least in the U.K.) than its predecessor. 'Live in London' (recorded at the Klub Foot) followed in 1987, and 'Rough Edges' continued the group's annual release schedule in 1988. Following that album, drummer Turner was replaced by Johnny Bowler, who debuted on 1990's 'Electra Glide in Blue' (recorded for new label World Service). While the band continued to tour the U.K. and Europe (with new bassist Mark Pennington), their initial recording career ended there, and they disbanded during the '90s. Hancox and Bowler both moved to California, where they settled and started families. The Guana Batz reunited in late 1998, however, and recorded the all-covers album 'Undercover' the following year. The compilation 'Can't Take the Pressure' was released in 2000, with a competing best-of, 'The Very Best of the Guana Batz', appearing in 2001. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
The Flesh Eaters was the nominal group founded by post-punk poet Chris D. (Desjardins), a singer renowned for his poor social skills (causing a revolving lineup which featured Stan Ridgway, John Doe, and Dave Alvin, among a host of others) and a penchant for obsessively morbid lyrical themes. The first Flesh Eaters full-length, 'No Questions Asked', appeared in 1980 on Upsetter Records. Its follow-up, 'A Minute to Pray, A Second to Die', fleshed out Chris D.'s rather unique vision with a tight band including Alvin, Doe, and another X mainstay, DJ Bonebrake. Though Desjardins rarely had backers as sympathetic and talented after that, he continued to record with 1982's 'Forever Came Today' and the following year's 'A Hard Road to Follow'.
By the mid-'80s, however, Desjardins had grown tired of recording a Flesh Eaters LP every year, virtually disbanding the already ramshackle group and founding Divine Horsemen for the 1984 LP 'Time Stands Still'. The change of direction, to a more dry and folksy style -though no less pointed and occasionally disturbing- must have stimulated him, for the Horsemen delivered three albums for SST during 1986-1987. After a 1988 EP, Desjardins moved on to a different alias, Stone by Stone, for another SST LP, 'I Pass for Human'.
In the meantime, SST had released two Flesh Eaters compilations and one live LP, and by the turn of the '90s, the predictably unpredictable Desjardins again formed a group around The Flesh Eaters. The first album by the second convening of the band, 1991's 'Dragstrip Riot', was a double-LP with an astounding variety of material ranging from cowpunk to metal to gutbucket blues. The following year brought two more albums, 'Crucified Lovers in Woman Hell' and 'The Sex Diary of Mr. Vampire'. The new millennium, however, saw the release of 'Ashes of Time' in early 2001.
Desjardins spent some of his post-millennial time making a film, "I Pass for Human", that shared a title with an earlier album. He also worked on new Flesh Eaters material in conjunction with the film that was eventually released in 2004 under the title 'Miss Muerte'. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
The unheralded college rock band The Dharma Bums garnered a passionate cult of fans, especially in their hometown of Portland, OR, but the group broke up just when the Pacific Northwest was attracting media attention for its underground music scene. The Dharma Bums were essentially a reunion of The Watchmen, a band formed by Jeremy Wilson (vocals), Eric Lovre (guitar), and Jim Talstra (bass) in high school. The Watchmen gained a following in Oregon by covering '50s rock and new wave hits from Elvis Costello, The Jam, and Joe Jackson alongside their own tunes. However, The Watchmen split up when Lovre and Talstra graduated from high school. In 1984, Wilson started another group, Perfect Circle. Unlike The Watchmen, Perfect Circle only performed original songs. A year later, Perfect Circle shared a bill with the Young Fresh Fellows at a club in Portland. Wilson was introduced to producer Conrad Uno and the Young Fresh Fellows' frontman Scott McCaughey; his band was given an offer to record in Seattle, WA, but they splintered before that could happen. After he graduated in 1986, Wilson moved to Portland and asked Lovre and Talstra if they wanted to jam. The trio recorded four songs in one evening at a farmhouse. Originally calling themselves The Afterludes, they changed it to The Dharma Bums and added drummer John Moen from Perfect Circle. The group used money from sold-out gigs in Portland to visit Seattle and see if Uno was still interested. The Dharma Bums' studio sessions with Uno led to a contract with his label, PopLlama. In 1988, PopLlama released The Dharma Bums' first album, 'Haywire'. "Boots of Leather" was a smash on college radio. The band signed a deal with Frontier in 1989. The group recorded two more albums and then disbanded in 1992. Wilson formed Pilot in 1993. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
More of a good-natured prank than an actual band, Ciccone Youth was a short-lived vehicle in which indie underground noisemakers Sonic Youth further explored their obsession with popular culture. In the mid-'80s, the members of Sonic Youth (especially Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon) made no secret of their fascination with Madonna; they were known to discuss her life and career in interviews, and the album 'EVOL' listed "Madonna, Sean, and Me" as an alternate title for the closing tune "Expressway to Yr. Skull." At the peak of their Madonna frenzy, the band decided to record a tribute single to the Material Girl; on the A-side, Sonic Youth performed a dark, ominous version of "Into the Groove" (dubbed "Into the Groovey") that sounds slow, until samples from Madonna's original recording confirm it's being played at the same tempo as the upbeat original. The flip side featured former Minutemen bassist and fellow Madonna enthusiast Mike Watt on a jacked-up rock version of "Burnin' Up," with former Black Flag leader Greg Ginn contributing a bracingly discordant guitar solo; it was one of Watt's first musical projects following the Minutemen's collapse after the death of D. Boon. Released by Watt's New Alliance label under the name Ciccone Youth (in honor of Madonna's surname), the single became an underground success, and a widespread (but unconfirmed) rumor had it that Madonna herself persuaded Warner Bros. not to take legal action against the record for unauthorized use of her sampled voice. The single's success led to a Ciccone Youth album, 'The Whitey Album' (referring to Sonic Youth's often-threatened intention to record an album in which they covered The Beatles in its entirety), but Watt's participation was limited to his original four-track demo for "Burnin' Up" and the disc featured no new Madonna interpretations from Sonic Youth, though Kim Gordon did offer up an intriguingly strange karaoke version of Robert Palmer's "Addicted to Love." The rest of the album was for the most part devoted to playful noise experiments, and by the end of 1986, Watt and Sonic Youth had seemingly retired the Ciccone Youth banner; there were no further recordings, and they never performed live using the name. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
The Bevis Frond was Nick Saloman, a neo-psychedelic renaissance man and the sole writer, performer, and producer behind the cottage industry bearing the Frond name. The head of his own label (Woronzow) as well as the co-publisher of his own underground magazine (the highly regarded Ptolemaic Terrascope), Saloman was a quintessential English eccentric, a frighteningly prolific talent and a true anachronism purveying an archaic musical genre while simultaneously pioneering the lo-fi aesthetic.
Saloman cloaked his formative years in mystery; according to legend, he formed his first band, The Bevis Frond Museum, during his school years, and after the group disbanded he performed solo acoustic sets throughout the London area known as Walthamstow. After founding The Von Trapp Family, later known as Room 13, Saloman was sidelined in 1982 following a motorcycle accident. With the money he received as compensation for his injuries, he revived The Bevis Frond name and during his recuperation period assembled 1986's 'Miasma', a slice of twisted, latter-day psychedelia issued on Woronzow in a pressing of 250.
Much to Saloman's shock, the record sold out. Realizing an audience existed for his brand of time-warped pop, he quickly issued 'Inner Marshland' in early 1987; the LP was another underground success that encouraged him to raid his extensive archives for more material. Double LP 'Bevis Through the Looking Glass' also appeared that year. With the floodgates opened, new Bevis Frond material -much of it written and recorded at Saloman's home long before it ever saw release- appeared constantly; in 1988 alone, Woronzow issued three separate collections: 'Triptych', 'The Auntie Winnie Album', and 'Acid Jam', all spotlighting his surreal wit and acute social commentary. Beginning with 1990's 'Any Gas Faster', Saloman was secure enough financially to begin recording in an outside studio; as the new decade dawned, he also made his live debut, appearing sporadically with an ever-changing group of backing musicians.
After 1990's 'Magic Eye', a joint collaboration with former Pink Fairy Twink, The Bevis Frond issued its acknowledged masterpiece, 1991's double-LP set 'New River Head'. Erratic and eclectic, Saloman's output continued on without concession to trends or consumer tastes, with new albums appearing with clocklike precision: 1992's 'London Stone', 1993's 'It Just Is', 1994's 'Sprawl', 1995's 'Superseeder', 1996's 'Son of Walter', 1997's two-disc 'North Circular', and 1999's 'Vavona Burr', plus the excellent concert recording 'Live at Great American Music Hall, San Francisco' and 'Eat Flowers & Kiss Babies', a collaboration with Country Joe McDonald. 'Valedictory Songs' followed in 2000 on a new label, Rubric, which also reissued the early Bevis Frond albums with different bonus tracks. Additionally, 'What Did for the Dinosaurs' appeared in 2002 with 'The Hit Squad' following in 2004.
After releasing albums at an astonishing rate for more than 15 years, apparently a hiatus was in order and it was seven years before The Bevis Frond reappeared in 2011 with 'Leaving of London', back on Saloman's Woronzow imprint. A double-disc follow-up, 'White Numbers', featuring longtime collaborators guitarist Paul Simmons, bassist Ade Shaw, and drummer Dave Pearce, was released in 2013. Later in the year, 'Live from the 4th Psychedelic Network Festival 2011', another double album, was released. Cherry Red released a Bevis Frond retrospective compilation, 'High in a Flat', in 2014. A new full-length studio album, 'Example 22', appeared in 2015. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Formed in 1987, this Newcastle, England-born female duo, Nicky Rushton (b. Nicola Rushton; guitar/vocals) and Rachel Collins (bass/vocals), achieved critical acclaim on the UK club circuit with their sets of bittersweet love songs, combined with a twist of political consciousness. Accompanied by simple, but effective, guitar and bass, their songs were offset with strong -almost a cappella- vocal harmonies and punchy melodies. They toured with Microdisney and Michelle Shocked while promoting their 1988 EP, 'If You Risk Nothing', and this led to an album on the small independent label Paint It Red, which won widespread critical acclaim. In 1989 they released their second album on the duo’s own Newcastle-based label, Roundabout. Later work saw them employing backing musicians, both live and in the studio, remaining one of the north east’s best-kept secrets. They enjoyed surprising popularity in German-speaking Europe, particularly Switzerland. And All Because The Lady Loves played their final concert in Switzerland in November 1994. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
