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 D-beat (also known as Discore, kängpunk, Discrust, and crust-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-be ...

, 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,

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the Exploited The Exploited are a Scottish punk rock band from Edinburgh, formed in 1979 by Stevie Ross and Terry Buchan, with Buchan soon replaced by his brother Wattie Buchan. They signed to Secret Records in March 1981,

, 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

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(NWOBHM) bands such as

Motörhead Motörhead () were an English rock band formed in London in 1975 by Lemmy (lead vocals, bass), Larry Wallis (guitar) and Lucas Fox (drums). Lemmy was also the primary songwriter and only constant member. The band are often considered a precu ...

. 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

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 SOS Records is a California-based punk-rock record label. The label was founded by Rob Chaos of Total Chaos and Ezzat Soliman. Bands * 4 Past Midnight *Abrasive Wheels *The Adicts *Adolescents * The Agitators *Antidote *Bad Manners * Bang Suga ...

. 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 A bone fracture (abbreviated FRX or Fx, Fx, or #) is a medical condition in which there is a partial or complete break in the continuity of any bone in the body. In more severe cases, the bone may be broken into several fragments, known as a '' ...

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and GBH at the ill-fated British Invasion 2k6 concert festival in

San Bernardino San Bernardino (; Spanish for "Saint Bernardino") is a city and county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a population of 222,101 in the 2020 cen ...

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, which ended in rioting. Guitarist Sean is the former manager of the

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and wa ...

The Olde Angel in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. Journalist and Killing Joke biographer Jyrki "Spider" Hämäläinen is currently working on a documentary about the band.

Members

*Anthony "Rat" Martin - vocals *Ian "Biff" Smith - guitar *Brian Ansell - bass *Kevin Frost - drums

Discography

Chart placings from the

UK Independent Chart The UK Independent Singles Chart and UK Independent Albums Chart are charts of the best-selling independent singles and albums, respectively, in the United Kingdom. Originally published in January 1980, and widely known as the indie chart, the rele ...

.Lazell, Barry (1997) ''Indie Hits 1980–1989'', Cherry Red Books, , p. 245 * ''Protest and Survive'' EP (1981) - no. 31 * ''I Don't Wanna Be a Victim'' EP (1982) - no. 15 * "Die for Your Government" single (1982) - no. 5 * ''Bloodsuckers'' LP (1983) - no. 8 * ''Led to the Slaughter'' EP (1984) - no. 24 * ''Another Religion, Another War'' EP (1984) - no. 47 * ''Massacred Millions'' EP (1984) - no. 30 * ''One Struggle, One Fight'' LP (1984) * ''Prepare for the Attack'' LP (1986) * ''Nothing Changed'' EP (1994) * ''Deadly Games'' LP/CD (compilation) (1994) * ''Murder'' LP/CD (1998) * ''How Do You Sleep?'' (2000) * ''Hellbound'' LP/CD (2005) * ''1980–2005: Collection Of 25 Years'' CD (2006) re-recorded tracks * ''Killing Myself to Live'' CD (2009) * ''Damned and Defiant'' LP/CD (2017) ;Compilations: * ''Still Bollox but Still Here'' (re-release of old tracks) CD (1995) * ''Riot City Years: '83-'84'' CD (2004) Punk Core Records * ''Punk Singles 1981–1985'' CD (2005) * ''Murder''/''Nothing Changed'' LP (Reissued 2010) Rodent Popsicle Records

References

External links

* * The Varukers on allmusic.com
The Varukers on Myspace

{{DEFAULTSORT:Varukers, The British crust and d-beat groups