The Varukers

The Varukers
The Varukers performing in Modena on 23 April 2006
Background information
Origin	Leamington Spa, United Kingdom
Genres	Hardcore punk street punk D-beat crossover thrash
Years active	1979–1988, 1990–present
Members	Anthony "Rat" Martin Ian "Biff" Smith Brian Ansell Kevin Frost
Past members	Brik Andy Damion Paul Miles Graham Kerr Warren Marvin

The Varukers are a UK hardcore punk 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.

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, 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 along with Graham Kerr & Kevin Frost put the band back together in 1990. 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. They have recently released a retrospective CD on SOS Records.

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 ill-fated British Invasion 2k6 concert festival in San Bernardino, California, which ended in rioting. Kevin Frost has since returned on the drums replacing Stick Dickens as of October 2016

They are currently writing new material for a new album entitled "Damned & Defiant" to be released October 2017.

Members

• Anthony "Rat" Martin - Vocals
• Ian "Biff" Smith - Guitar
• Brian Ansell - Bass
• Kevin Frost - Drums

Discography

Chart placings from the UK Independent Chart.

Albums

• Bloodsuckers (1983) LP - no. 8
• One Struggle, One Fight (1984) LP
• Still Bollox But Still Here (1995) LP
• Murder (1998) LP/CD
• How Do You Sleep??????? (2000) LP/CD
• Killing Myself to Live (2009) CD

Live

• Live In Holland (1985) LP
• Live In Leeds 1984 (1994) CD

Singles & EPs

• The Varukers E.P. (1981) EP - no. 31
• I Don't Wanna Be a Victim (1982) EP - no. 15
• Die for Your Government (1982) single - no. 5
• Massacred Millions (1984) EP - no. 30
• Led to the Slaughter (1984) EP - no. 24
• No Hope Of A Future / Never Again (1984) single
• Another Religion, Another War (1984) EP - no. 47
• Nothing Changed (1994) EP
• Humanity (1996) EP
• Blood Money (2016) EP
• Die For Your Government (2017) single

Compilations

• Prepare for the Attack (1986) LP
• Deadly Games (1994) LP/CD
• Bloodsuckers / Prepare For The Attack (1995) CD
• The Punk Singles 1981-1985 (1996) CD
• The Riot City Years: '83-'84 (2001) CD
• Vintage Varukers - Rare And Unreleased - 1980 - 1985 (2001) LP/CD
• Massacred Millions (2001) CD
• 1980–2005: Collection Of 25 Years (2006) CD
• No Masters No Slaves (2007) CD
• The Retch Files Volume 1 (2008) CD
• The Damnation Of Our Species (2011) CD
• 1984-2000 (2013) CD
• The Varukers (2013) LP

References

• Glasper, Ian (2014). Burning Britain: The History of UK Punk 1980–1984. PM Press. p. 76. ISBN 978-1-60486-748-0.

External links

• The Varukers on allmusic.com
• The Varukers on Myspace
• Interview with Marvin