Published by Cherry Red Books
395 pages
Published price £14.99
In the mid-Eighties, as Thatcher turned the screw and the charts overflowed with what felt to many like the most boring pop music ever made, the underground exploded. The post-post-punk scene was a diverse collection of bands brought together by independent releases and a never-ending series of gigs performed in off centre venues the length and breadth of the UK, aided by reportage in fanzines and radio play from John Peel.
Death To Trad Rock is the first time this era collection of bands has been analysed and written about in such depth. It explores this loose confederation of noisenik outfits reacting against the bland conformity of the mid-Eighties, including Three Johns, The Membranes, Nightingales, The Ex, Wedding Present, Age Of Chance, A Witness, Bogshed and Big Flame. Bands trading in loud, discordant noise-rock with a stripped down punk energy, dirty bass, shrapnel guitars and surreal lyrics, all forged into quirky, original songs.
The scene didn’t have a name and was so smartass that it would never have called itself a scene, but there was a sense of a movement in every respect. The author lived this music, saw the bands, housed them, released their records, wrote about them in the music press and even played in one of the bands, the Membranes. Some of these acts went on to mainstream success, some were rounded up and herded awkwardly into the NME’s C86 bracket whilst others faded away, only to become seminal influences in later years. In Death To Trad Rock we meet everybody involved and find out just how they all arrived at such an unlikely tangent in such a boring decade.
The book is an account of the fervent UK 80s underground of bands that played sharp and angular songs of dischord and harmony. A scene that came out out of punk and post punk but wilfully would just not conform. Groups like the Membranes, the Nightingales, Three Johns, Big Flame, Bogshed, A Witness, The Wedding Present are finally being embraced for their adventures and this book explains who they were and how this scene worked outside the music business. A scene driven by fanzine culture and a strong DIY ethic that became a big influence on bass as diverse as the Manic Streets Preachers, Massive Attack, Steve Albini and many more...
Signed edition.
Do You Believe In The Power of Rock & Roll? - John Robb (Signed Paperback)
£14 GBP
The Art Of Darkness - The History Of Goth - John Robb (signed)
£25 GBP
Membranes 'Jester' 2023 T-Shirt
£16.75 GBP
Dark Energy - Special Reserve Hot Sauce
£7.75 GBP
Membranes logo enamel pin badge
£5 GBP
Membranes embroidered logo patch
£2.25 GBP
What Nature Gives...Nature Takes Away – Limited edition Double Vinyl
£20 GBP
Dark Matter / Dark Energy – CD Edition
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Everyone's Going Triple Bad Acid, Yeah! The Complete Membranes 1980 - 1993 5CD Box Set – "Everyone's Going Triple Bad Acid, Yeah! The Complete Membranes 1980 - 1993" 5CD Boxset
£20 GBP
Membranes logo T-shirt
£16.50 GBP
John Robb: Confessions - Lyrics and Nostalgia (Book, Signed)
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Punk Rock: An Oral History - John Robb (Book) Signed
£22 GBP
John Robb: Polaroid Art (Signed)
£6 GBP
John Robb Postcards 'Mixtape'
£8 GBP
The Membranes 'Pin Stripe Hype' Jigsaw
£10 GBP
Membranes logo Air Freshener + FREE 'Breathe In / Breathe Out' Remix
£1.25 GBP
Membranes logo slipmat
£4.50 GBP
Membranes logo beanie hat
£8.65 GBP
Inner Space / Outer Space – CD Edition
£10 GBP
What Nature Gives...Nature Takes Away – CD Edition
£10 GBP
Inner Space / Outer Space – Limited Edition Double Vinyl edition
£15.50 GBP
The Art Of Darkness - The History of Goth (John Robb Poster Signed)
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The Stone Roses And The Resurrection of British Pop: The Reunion Edition - John Robb (Book) Signed
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John Robb Postcards 'Mixtape' & 'Skull'
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John Robb Postcards 'Skull'
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Membranes logo guitar plectrum (inc UK P&P)
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Rox Fanzine #25 - T-shirt LAST ONE LARGE ONLY
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Do The Supernova – Do The Supernova - SIGNED Test Pressing 7" Vinyl
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Dark Matter / Dark Energy – Dark Matter / Dark Energy - SIGNED Test Pressing Dbl Vinyl
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Kiss Ass Godhead T-Shirt
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Logo snood / neck warmer
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Membranes logo ceramic mug
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The Membranes Manchester, UK
Formed in 1978 in Blackpool, UK, The Membranes are post-punk originators who were part of the same world as bands like Joy
Division, Bauhaus & The Fall. They released a remarkable series of records throughout the ‘80s that combined their small town frustration with a love of heavy bass and distortion.
The group reformed in 2010 and have since made two highly idiosyncratic and acclaimed albums.
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