Plunder the Tombs: UK Decay – Rising From the Dread EP (Corpus Christie, 1982)

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

UK Decay – Rising From the Dread EP (Corpus Christie, 1982)

These days, it’s a popular misconception to attribute “Goth” as having its raw seeds sown in the (presumably flat) field of Bauhaus. Lost in the mists of time though is that Luton’s UK Decay actually beat Bauhaus to the post with their first single, a split with local punk outfit Pneumania (Plastic Records, 1979) preceding Bela Lugosi is Dead by the narrowest of margins and then repeating the trick with The Black EP (AKA: The Black Cat, (Plastic Records, 1980)) hitting the stores just a few months before In the Flat Field. An interview with journalist Steve Keaton would prove strangely prophetic:

"Abbo, told me that they had a fascination with death (he was laughing at the time) Even so their imagery is striking and the music is thick with Victorian menace - and Banshee/Antz spice Could this be the coming of Punk Gothique? With Bauhaus flying on similar wings could it be the next big thing?"

Sounds, 1981

The Rising From the Dread EP ("Dread" not “Dead” despite what Wikkipedia and the band’s own album liner notes would have you believe), one of the band’s later releases, sees UK Decay at the height of their powers. Comparisons with Bauhaus are inevitable, both possessing a similar style both instrumentally and vocally, yet UK Decay seemed to have so much more “oomph” if you will. Similarities with Siouxsie and Adam and the Ants are also obvious, underscoring why UK Decay had such a vital role to play as the natural “missing link” between post-punk and what would come to be known as “Goth”.

Stylistically speaking, Rising From the Dread is light years ahead of UK Decay’s earlier works which, while enjoyable in themselves, often had a tendency to cross the fine line that lies between being archly dramatic and the unfortunately (or perhaps intentionally?) absurd. If one can ignore the somewhat annoying two and a half minutes of pointless noise that commences the beast, Rising From the Dread remains powerful, catchy and brilliant.

The brilliant artwork on the

rear of Rising from the Dread.

The band reformed a few years back and for those lucky enough to dwell in Europe can now be seen performing the festival circuit. For people seeking more detail, an extensive and revealing interview with vocalist Abbo can be found in Mick Mercer’s book “Gothic Rock” (Pegasus Publishing Ltd, 1991). A post-reform interview is also to be found at the musicthatjumpedtheshark.com link below.

Recently, UK Decay re-released the full length album For Madmen Only (originally on Fresh Records, 1981) on CD (UK Decay Records, 2009), including the Rising From The Dread EP and a number of other tracks.While Bauhaus and other bands may have refined the style, and arguably done it better, UK Decay nevertheless did it first. Well worth owning for that reason alone.

Track Listing:

1. Werewolf

2. Jerusalem Over (The White Cliffs of Dover)

3. Rising From The Dead

4. Testament

The CD Release of For Madmen Only also contains: Duel, Battle of the Elements, Shattered, Stage Struck, Last In the House of Flames, Unexpected Guest, Sexual, Dorian, Decadance, Mayday Malady, For Madmen Only, Barbarian, Black Cat, Unwind, For My Country.

Their first release, the "Split" 7" with Pneumania (Plastic Records, 1979). The tartan trousers providing vital evidence that what would become the established "Goth Look" may have taken some little time to develop.

Line Up: Steven (Abbo) Abbott (vocals), Steve Spon (guitar), Steve Harle (drums), Eddie (Twiggy) Branch drums).

http://www.ukdecay.co.uk/

http://www.myspace.com/ukdecay

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UK_Decay

http://musicthatjumpedtheshark.com/blogs

1 comment:

Barbara MaidelFebruary 13, 2011 at 9:27 AM
Thanks for this.
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A Welcome and Introduction

Plunder the Tombs was started back in 2010 by way of looking back on a musical past that I felt in sore need of curation.

It was a strange and sad time when what passed for “Goth” in clubs seemed a pale imitator of what once was, following first a decade of cookie-cutter Sisters of the Nephilim clone bands and then another decade of industrial dance being palmed off to younger audiences as a type of faux goth. When on rare occasion DJs in “Goth” clubs did finally become brave enough to play something like Bauhaus it was not untypical to have the dance floor clear, and it became obvious that the memory, meaning and legacy of much that had gone before had been lost.

It’s probably safe to say that the boundaries of what was “Goth” were never clearly defined. An absolute blessing for those bands on the original scene before it had a name pinned to the donkey, but an outright curse for those who came later and found rules had been imposed to dictate that which was and that which was not acceptable. Worse still was to come in the 90s from a lazy and unquestioning media who simply assumed that anything that wore black and make up was by definition “Goth”, thus allowing all manner of pretenders licence, and maximising confusion as to what the term actually referred to.

This has gone on for way too long and its time is at an end. Neo Post-Punk bands now proliferate across Europe, old long dead Goth bands rise from their crypts in the UK, and new deathrock bands are breeding like rabbits up the west coast of America. It is time to reclaim our scene back from metal bands and ravers in disguise.

While the Plunder the Tombs of old focused on what had gone before, there are now far too many exciting new things to ignore. We roar back to life in a reboot, covering past , present and things yet to come.

Let us plunder the tombs….