The Varukers

Last updated

The Varukers
Varukers.jpg
The Varukers performing in Modena on 23 April 2006
Background information
Origin Leamington Spa, United Kingdom
Genres
Years active1979–1988, 1993–present
Members
  • Anthony "Rat" Martin
  • Ian "Biff" Smith
  • Brian Ansell
  • Kevin "Kev" Frost
Past members
  • Perry Philips
  • Carl Maxwell
  • Brian Roe
  • Bruce Riddell
  • Garry Maloney
  • George Jenkins
  • Sean Duggan
  • Brik
  • Andy
  • Damion
  • Tom (vomit) Lowe
  • Stick Dickings

The Varukers are a British punk rock band formed in 1979 by vocalist Anthony "Rat" Martin. They produced their most influential recordings in the early 1980s. The band play in D-beat, the musical style of Discharge. Also like Discharge, the Varukers' lyrics carry an anarchist political ideology.

Contents

History

Initially known as the Veruccas, the band altered the spelling of their name to the Varukers to convey more aggression. When recording in the early 1980s, they were part of a broader trend known as "UK 82", second generation punk, or UK hardcore. Bands such as the Varukers, Discharge, Chaos UK, Amebix, the Exploited, and Charged GBH took the existing 1977-era punk sound and melded it with the incessant, heavy drumbeats and "wall of sound" distortion guitar sound of new wave of British heavy metal (NWOBHM) bands such as Motörhead. The new, harder-edged style also tended to use much darker, more nihilistic, and more violent lyrics, and vocals were often shouted rather than sung.

While the Varukers split in 1989, vocalist Rat and guitarist Biff put the band back together in 1991. Stylistically their 1990s-era music resembled the traditional UK82 style. Since the band had former members of Discharge, a D-beat sound developed as time went on. The band has gone through many line-up changes over the years with the only constant member being Rat on vocals while guitarist Biff has been with the band since 1985.

Even with Rat splitting his time between the Varukers and Discharge and Biff splitting his time with Sick on the Bus. The Varukers continue to tour. They shared a headlining spot with such acts as Broken Bones, The Adicts, Vice Squad and GBH at the British Invasion 2k6 concert festival in San Bernardino, California, which ended in rioting.

Guitarist Sean is the former manager of the public house The Olde Angel in Nottingham, United Kingdom.

Journalist and Killing Joke biographer Jyrki "Spider" Hämäläinen directed a documentary about the band that was released 2022. [4]

Members

Discography

Chart placings from the UK Independent Chart. [5]

Studio Albums

EP

Singles

Live Albums

Compilations

Video

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Subhumans (British band)</span> British anarcho-punk band

Subhumans are an English/UK punk rock band formed in the Warminster and Melksham areas of Wiltshire in 1980. Singer Dick Lucas had formerly been in another local band, the Mental, and other members had been in The Stupid Humans. The band's musical style is typically classified as hardcore punk or anarcho-punk.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Exploited</span> Scottish punk rock band

The Exploited are a Scottish punk rock band from Edinburgh, formed in 1978 by Stevie Ross and Terry Buchan, with Buchan soon replaced by his brother Wattie Buchan. They signed to Secret Records in March 1981, and their debut EP, Army Life, and debut album, Punks Not Dead, were both released that year. The band maintained a large cult following in the 1980s among a hardcore working class punk and skinhead audience. Originally a street punk band, the Exploited eventually became a crossover thrash band with the release of their album Death Before Dishonour in 1987.

Picture Frame Seduction (PFS) is a hardcore punk band originally from Haverfordwest, Wales, but later jointly based in Cadiz and Málaga in Spain and London and Bristol in the UK. In their formative years in Wales the band was considered too aggressive in their musical style and attitude to book and were continually ignored by established Welsh venues. The band's influences included their peers of the day, Charged GBH and Discharge. With many other bands of the time, such as The Varukers and Chaos UK, they helped develop the hardcore punk scene in the United Kingdom in the early to mid-1980s, recording from 1979 to 1987 on numerous labels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crust punk</span> Music genre

Crust punk is a subgenre of punk rock influenced by the English punk scene as well as extreme metal. The style, which evolved in the early 1980s in England, often has songs with dark and pessimistic lyrics that linger on political and social ills. The term "crust" was coined by Hellbastard on their 1986 Ripper Crust demo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GBH (band)</span> British punk band

GBH are an English punk rock band which was formed in 1978 by vocalist Colin Abrahall, guitarist Colin "Jock" Blyth, bassist Sean McCarthy and drummer Andy "Wilf" Williams.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Discharge (band)</span> English punk band

Discharge are an English hardcore punk band formed in 1977 in Stoke-on-Trent, England. The band is known for influencing several sub-genres of extreme music and their songs have been covered by some of the biggest names in heavy metal and other genres. The musical sub-genre of D-beat is named after Discharge and the band's distinctive drumbeat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">D-beat</span> Genre of hardcore punk

D-beat is a style of hardcore punk, developed in the early 1980s by imitators of Discharge, after whom the genre is named, as well as a drum beat characteristic of this subgenre. D-beat is known for its "grinding, distorted and brutally political" sound. Discharge may have themselves inherited the beat from Motörhead and the Buzzcocks. D-beat is closely associated with crust punk, which is a heavier, more complex variation. The style was particularly popular in Sweden, and developed there by groups such as Crude SS, Anti Cimex, Mob 47, and Driller Killer. Other D-beat groups include Doom and the Varukers from the UK; Disclose from Japan; Crucifix and Final Conflict from the U.S.; Ratos de Porão from Brazil; and MG15 from Spain. While the style initially developed in the early 1980s, a number of new groups working within the subgenre emerged in the mid-1990s. These include the Swedish groups Wolfbrigade, Totalitär, Avskum, Skitsystem, and Disfear.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antisect</span> English punk rock band

Antisect are a punk rock band based in London, England. Their roots are in hardcore/anarcho punk and metal.

The Bus Station Loonies are a British cabaret punk band from Plymouth, England. They have been described as a cross between Splodgenessabounds and Crass. Original Loonies Tony Popkids (drums) and Chris "Felcher" Wheelchair, sharing a mutual love of such U.S. punk outfits such as The Dickies, still continue with the band today, having recruited approximately 30 other band members over 18 years.

Hagar the Womb are an English punk rock band, originally active in the early 1980s and part of the anarcho-punk movement. In hiatus from 1987, members went on to form We Are Going To Eat You and Melt, with vocalist Julie Sorrell. A 2011 compilation of their back catalogue brought members back into contact with each other, and invitations to reform and play gigs and festivals led to Hagar The Womb gigging again from 2012. The band released a new EP in 2016.

Chron Gen are a British punk band, formed in January 1978 in Letchworth, Hertfordshire, England.

Disorder are an English street punk band that formed in the Bristol area of England in 1980, and has existed with varying line-ups. They are aligned with politically charged punk bands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Riot City Records</span> Punk music label

Riot City was a British record label based in Bristol, active between 1980 and 1988, and run by Heartbeat Records boss Simon Edwards along with Dave Bateman and Shane Baldwin from the band Vice Squad. Vice Squad's Last Rockers EP was Riot City's first release - it reached number 1 in the UK Alternative Chart and sold 22,000 copies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chaos UK</span> English punk rock band

Chaos UK is an English punk rock band formed in 1979 in Portishead, near Bristol. They emerged as part of the anarcho-punk scene, developing a fast and aggressive hardcore punk style. The band recorded two EPs and a full LP for Riot City Records. In the process, they, along with fellow Bristolians Disorder and Stoke's Discharge, revolutionized the hardcore punk scene. In particular, the Japanese '80s hardcore punk bands were heavily influenced by Chaos UK and Disorder's brutal take on punk. Chaos UK's debut LP was notable in the fact that the band's label claimed it was the "fastest, noisiest LP in the cosmos" in the short-lived "Punk Lives" magazine. Vocal duties on this recording were also handled by bassist Chaos.

<i>Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing</i> 1982 studio album by Discharge

Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing is the debut studio album by English hardcore punk band Discharge, released on 21 May 1982 by Clay Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Foreign Legion (band)</span> Welsh punk band

Foreign Legion is a punk band from South Wales.

English Dogs were a British hardcore punk band that began life in the early eighties. Two versions of the band exist, the punk and metal crossover band featuring original drummer Andrew "Pinch" Pinching and second-era members Graham "Gizz" Butt and Adie Bailey and a punk-based one featuring original vocalist Pete "Wakey" Wakefield.

Street punk is an urban working class-based subgenre of punk rock, which emerged as a rebellion against the perceived artistic pretensions of the first wave of British punk. The earliest street punk songs emerged in the late 1970s by bands including Sham 69, the U.K. Subs and Cockney Rejects. By 1982, bands such as Discharge, GBH and the Exploited had pushed this sound to become faster and more abrasive, while also embracing the influence of heavy metal music. In the 1990s and 2000s, a street punk revival began with bands such as the Casualties, Rancid and the Analogs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hardcore punk in the United Kingdom</span> Genre of music in the UK

Hardcore punk in the United Kingdom began in the late 1970s and early 1980s with the second wave of punk rock in the country. The scene produced many successful and influential hardcore punk bands throughout the 1980s such as Discharge, GBH and the Exploited and led to the pioneering of genres such as grindcore, street punk, crust punk and D-beat.

References

  1. 1 2 Glasper, Ian (2004). Burning Britain: The History of UK Punk 1980–1984. p. 75.
  2. Von Havoc, Felix (1 January 1984). "Rise of Crust". Profane Existence. Archived from the original on 15 June 2008. Retrieved 16 June 2008.
  3. Glasper 2004, p. 5
  4. News of the week – LOP vol. 3 (Varukers)
  5. Lazell, Barry (1997) Indie Hits 1980–1989, Cherry Red Books, ISBN   0-9517206-9-4, p. 245