Punishment of Luxury, also known as Punilux, are an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of music that emerged in late 1977 in the wake of punk rock. Post-punk musicians departed from punk's fundamental elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a broader, more experiment ...

band, formed in

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

in 1976. They disbanded in 1984, but reunited briefly in the late 1980s, and again in 2007, and have been active since.

History

From a background working in English fringe theatre groups, Punishment Of Luxury formed in December of 1976, in Newcastle. Taking their name from an 1891 painting by

Giovanni Segantini Giovanni Segantini (15 January 1858 – 28 September 1899) was an Italian painter known for his large pastoral landscapes of the Alps. He was one of the most famous artists in Europe in the late 19th century, and his paintings were collected by ...

in the

Walker Art Gallery The Walker Art Gallery is an art gallery in Liverpool, which houses one of the largest art collections in England outside London. It is part of the National Museums Liverpool group. History The Walker Art Gallery's collection dates from 1819 ...

, Liverpool, the band consisted initially of Brian Bond (born Brian Rapkin - vocals), Neville Luxury (born Neville Atkinson - guitar, vocals), Red Helmet (guitar, vocals), Jimi Giro (bass guitar, vocals), and "Liquid" Les Denham (drums).Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p. 122-3 They released a single, "Puppet Life" on the Small Wonder label in July 1978. In 1979 they signed to

United Artists United Artists (UA) is an American film production and film distribution, distribution company owned by Amazon MGM Studios. In its original operating period, it was founded in February 1919 by Charlie Chaplin, D. W. Griffith, Mary Pickford an ...

and released the singles "Engine Of Excess" with Mick Avery on drums, then with new drummer Steve Sekrit (born Steven Robson), made "Secrets", and the album ''

Laughing Academy ''Laughing Academy'' is the debut studio album by English band Punishment of Luxury, released in 1979 by record label United Artists United Artists (UA) is an American film production and film distribution, distribution company owned by ...

''. In the summer of 1979 they played at the Reading Rock Festival after

The Cure The Cure are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Crawley in 1976 by Robert Smith (musician), Robert Smith (vocals, guitar) and Lol Tolhurst (drums). The band's current line-up comprises Smith, Perry Bamonte (guitar and keyboards), Reev ...

and before

The Tourists The Tourists were a British rock and pop band. They achieved brief success in the late 1970s before the band split in 1980. Two of its members, singer Annie Lennox and guitarist Dave Stewart, went on to international success as Eurythmics. ...

and

Motörhead Motörhead () were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1975 by bassist and lead vocalist Lemmy Kilmister, guitarist Larry Wallis and drummer Lucas Fox. Kilmister was the primary songwriter and only constant member. The band a ...

. 1980 saw the release of the single "Laughing Academy". An extensive European tour followed and United Artists sent the band into the studio to record another album, a concept album to be called ''Gigantic Days''. However while the recording was still going on, United Artists were taken over by

EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...

, who dropped the band. A final European tour was followed by Bond's departure. Neville, Sekrit and Giro recruited guitarist Tim Magenta to a new lineup, now going by the name Punilux. They released a further album on the

Red Rhino Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–750 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...

label, ''7'' in 1983, with Magenta replaced by Rab Aitch, before Neville Luxury went solo, releasing the

mini-album A mini-LP or mini-album is a short record album or LP, usually retailing at a lower price than an album that would be considered full-length. It is distinct from an EP due to containing more tracks and a slightly longer running length. A mini- ...

''Feels Like Dancing Wartime'' in 1984. The album ''Gigantic Days'' was finally released, on CD, in 1998 by Overground Records.

Reunion

In 2007, they reunited and played a few songs for the bassist Jimi Giro's 50th birthday party. A little more than a year later they landed a gig at a small pub in Gateshead, in the north-east of England called The Three Tuns. The gig was considered a success and was written about in

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

newspaper. On 12 June 2009, they played at

the Luminaire The Luminaire was a live music venue on Kilburn High Road in north west London, UK. It opened on 1 March 2005 in what was a nightclub called Late, above McGovern's Pub and The Kilburn Bar. Its last public show was 9 March 2011. Student apartment ...

in Kilburn, North London. They have performed intermittently since. The band released a CD of new material, titled ''5'', in March/April 2012. A definitive, career-spanning, five-CD box set was released on 8 November 2019, called ''Puppet Life (The Complete Recordings)''.

Discography

Albums

*''

'' (1979),

*''7'' (1984),

- as Punilux, UK Indie No. 12Lazell, Barry (1998), ''Indie Hits 1980-1989'', Cherry Red Books, , p. 180 *''Gigantic Days (the shelved LP)'' (1998), Overground *''5'' (2012, EP/CD mini-album)

Compilation albums

*''Revolution by Numbers'' (1997), Overground *''Puppet Life (The Complete Recordings)'' (2019)

Neville Luxury

*''Feels Like Dancing Wartime'' (1984), Red Rhino

Singles

*"Puppet Life" (1978), Small Wonder *"Engine of Excess" (1979), United Artists *"Secrets" (1979), United Artists *"Laughing Academy" (1980),

Liberty Liberty is the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life, behavior, or political views. The concept of liberty can vary depending on perspective and context. In the Constitutional ...

*"Hold Me (Never Mould Me)" (1983), Red Rhino - as Punilux, UK Indie No. 36 *"Alien Contact" (1989), P.U.K.

References

External links

Punishment of Luxury home pageJohn Peel Sessions tracklist and lineup from 1978 / 1979 Punishment of Luxury Myspace pagePunishment of Luxury Facebook page
{{Authority control English punk rock groups English pop punk groups English post-punk music groups British political music groups Musical groups established in 1976 Musical groups disestablished in 1984