The Men That Will Not Be Blamed for Nothing are an English

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

band from

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

formed in 2008. Their name is a reference to the chalked graffiti discovered above a section of blood-stained apron thought to have been discarded by

Jack the Ripper Jack the Ripper was an unidentified serial killer who was active in and around the impoverished Whitechapel district of London, England, in 1888. In both criminal case files and the contemporaneous journalistic accounts, the killer was also ...

as he fled the scene of Catherine Eddowes's murder. They describe themselves as " Crusty punk meets cockney sing-songs meets

grindcore Grindcore is an extreme metal, extreme fusion genre of heavy metal music, heavy metal and hardcore punk that originated in the mid-1980s, drawing inspiration from abrasive-sounding musical styles, such as thrashcore, crust punk, hardcore punk, e ...

in the 1880s." Initially associated with the

steampunk Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction that incorporates retrofuturistic technology and Applied arts, aesthetics inspired by, but not limited to, 19th-century Industrial Revolution, industrial steam engine, steam-powered machinery. Steampun ...

movement, they have since sought to broaden their sound and distance themselves from the tag, incorporating elements of

death metal Death metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep death growl, growling vocals; aggressive ...

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (commonly abbreviated to hardcore or hXc) is a punk rock music genre#subtypes, subgenre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots ...

, the

new wave of British heavy metal The new wave of British heavy metal (often abbreviated as NWOBHM) was a nationwide musical movement that began in England in the mid-1970s and achieved international attention by the early 1980s. Editor Alan Lewis (music journalist), Alan Lew ...

, thrash,

black metal Black metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include Tempo#Beats per minute, fast tempos, a Screaming (music)#Black metal, shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted Electric guitar, guitars played with tr ...

, goth, stand up comedy and

music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was most popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850, through the World War I, Great War. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as Varie ...

. Their songs are usually set in the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the ...

but can often be read as

allegory As a List of narrative techniques, literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a wikt:narrative, narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a meaning with moral or political signi ...

for the present day.

Biography

Formed in 2008 by

Andrew O'Neill Andrew O'Neill (born 14 September 1979) is a British comedian, musician, presenter, and writer who lives in London. Background Born in Portsmouth in 1979, O'Neill grew up in the London suburban town of Wallington, London, Wallington. They have ...

and Andy Heintz, ''The Men That Will Not Be Blamed for Nothing'' have featured on the cover of the lifestyle magazine ''

The Chap ''The Chap'' is a British humorous men's lifestyle magazine published quarterly. It was founded in 1999 by Gustav Temple and Vic Darkwood, and is still edited by Temple. The magazine proposes that men everywhere return to a more gentlemanly wa ...

'', within the covers of '' Bizarre Magazine'' and the ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' and played in diverse venues including comedy clubs, festivals and theatres (the latter in support of frontperson O'Neill on the tour of their comedy show Andrew O'Neill's Totally Spot-On History of British Industry). They have performed at the Whitby Gothic Weekend, Steampunk events such as the UK Steampunk Convivial in Lincoln, the World Steam Expo in Detroit, Michigan, the Steampunk World's Fair in New Jersey, and more mainstream UK festivals such as

Glastonbury Festival The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts (commonly referred to as simply Glastonbury Festival, known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts held near Pilton, Somerset, England, in most su ...

Download Festival Download Festival is a rock festival created by Andy Copping, held annually at the Donington Park motorsport circuit in Leicestershire, England (since 2003); in Paris, France (since 2016); at Parramatta Park, Sydney (since 2019); Flemington ...

Bestival Bestival was a four-day music festival held in the south of England. The name Bestival is a portmanteau of the words best and festival. It had been held annually in the late summer since 2004 at Robin Hill on the Isle of Wight. In 2017 the festi ...

, Camp Bestival, and the

Latitude Festival Latitude Festival is an annual music and arts festival set within the grounds of Henham Park, near Southwold, Suffolk, England. The first edition of the festival took place in 2006 and has continued annually (apart from 2020 when it was cancel ...

. Their debut album, entitled '' Now That's What I Call Steampunk! Volume 1'', was released on 24 May 2010. The song "Sewer" was released as a limited edition wax cylinder, limited to 40 copies in a presentation box, the first new song to be released on such a format in several decades. In May 2010 original drummer Ben Dawson departed and was replaced with Jez Miller, formerly of Lords of the New Church. A special limited edition 7-inch EP, entitled '' A Very Steampunk Christmas EP'', was released on 6 December 2010 featuring the new line up. An exclusive limited edition live album recorded at Nambucca, Holloway Road, London, entitled ''Anachrony in the UK Live in London April 2011'', was released on 28 May 2011. In August 2011 the band released a second wax cylinder of the new, original song "Free Spirit", limited to 40 copies, promoted via their Facebook page. On 10 September 2011 the band announced on stage during the Weekend at the Asylum concert that their second album had been recorded and would be entitled ''And That Is The Reason Why The Men That Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing Cannot Be Killed By Conventional Weapons''. The album was released on 12 March 2012 and features 12 songs with a running time of 36.10 minutes. The album title has changed slightly since the September announcement, and will now be called ''This May Be The Reason Why The Men That Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing Cannot Be Killed By Conventional Weapons''. On 27 January 2012, the band were given three working days to change the title of their first album or face legal action 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 ...

over

trademark infringement Trademark infringement is a violation of the exclusive rights attached to a trademark without the authorization of the trademark owner or any licensees (provided that such authorization was within the scope of the licence). Infringement may occ ...

of the label's '' Now That's What I Call...'' series. Rather than face a costly court battle the band agreed to change the album title to ''The Steampunk Album That Cannot Be Named for Legal Reasons''. In September 2013, they released a song, entitled "The Gin Song", from their new EP. The EP came out 7 October 2013, and features "The Gin Song" and "Third Class Coffin". In May 2014 the band announced that Andy Heintz had been diagnosed with throat cancer. A planned US tour was cancelled, with Burrows and O'Neill instead performing stand up comedy sets across the US. The band made their debut at the Glastonbury Festival, and only appearance that summer, as a trio with O'Neill and Burrows sharing the vocals, joined on one song by Leeson O'Keefe of the band

Neck The neck is the part of the body in many vertebrates that connects the head to the torso. It supports the weight of the head and protects the nerves that transmit sensory and motor information between the brain and the rest of the body. Addition ...

. Burrows wrote an emotional account of the experience for UK website Drowned In Sound. In October 2014 the band announced via their Facebook page that Heintz was recovering from his treatment, the band played a short run of shows culminating in a sold-out headline set London's The Garage, and a free Christmas show at the comparatively small The Islington. In March 2015 the band appeared in a 'Drinking with... Steampunks', a comedy short commissioned for

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

's online platform

All 4 Channel 4 (previously 4oD and All 4) is a video on demand service from Channel Four Television Corporation, free of charge for most content and funded by advertising. The service is available in the UK and Ireland; viewers are not required to ...

and shot, appropriately, in the Brunel Museum featuring footage of the band in the Thames Tunnel and performing live at the relaunched 12 Bar Club. A short spring tour saw them appear in Bristol alongside She Makes War. In May 2015 the band announced via their Facebook page that they had recorded their third album, ''Not Your Typical Victorians'', at

Livingston Recording Studios Livingston Recording Studios is a recording studio in North London. The studios were started by Ray Kinsey, a film director from North London, who branched out into recording talking books for the blind. The first Livingston Studio designed for ...

in North London, which would feature a re-recorded version of 'The Gin Song.' The album was released in the Autumn of 2015, following appearances at Glastonbury,

Blissfields Blissfields was an annual music festival in Hampshire, England founded by Paul and Mel Bliss in 2001 at Bradley Farm, Bradley, near New Alresford, Alresford. In 2011 the festival moved to a new site in Vicarage Farm, Woodmancott near Winchester. ...

, Boomtown Fair,

Secret Garden Party The Secret Garden Party, often colloquially shortened to the SGP, is an independent music festival, arts and music festival held in Abbots Ripton, England. The location is on part of the grounds of a Georgian farmhouse and has its own lakes, river ...

and other summer festivals. The album received positive reviews from Drowned In Sound,

Louder Than War ''Louder Than War'' is a music and culture website and magazine focusing on mainly alternative arts news, reviews, and features. The site is an editorially independent publication that was started by the English musician and journalist John R ...

and Pure Rawk whose readers voted it Album of the Year at the site's annual awards. The band announced the release of their fourth album, ''Double Negative'' in January 2018. A press release quoted the band describing the album as "a short, angry album that emphasised our punk side and pushed our sound forward. It’s dark, savage, brutal and holds up the rotten corpse of Britain’s past as a mirror to the sorry state of the present…and then rubs yer face in it so you won’t do it again. The humour is still there, but it’s dark and twisted- there’s very little of the Music Hall influence we’ve touched on before." The band announced a UK tour to promote the record. The band confirmed in a syndicated interview with journalist

Simon Price Simon Price (born 25 September 1967) is a British music journalist and author. He is known for his weekly review section in ''The Independent on Sunday'' and his books ''Everything (A Book About Manic Street Preachers)'' and ''Curepedia: An ...

that they planned to record a follow-up album that would a counterpoint, with O'Neill saying "We’re on a two-album cycle and any songs that are more expansive and epic will go on the next album." In June 2021, the band announced via Facebook that long-term member Jez Miller had left the band to pursue other opportunities. Upcoming shows and the fifth album would continue as planned with guest drummers until a new full time member could be recruited.

Band members

(vocals, guitar) * Gerhard 'Andy' Heintz (vocals,

musical saw A musical saw, also called a singing saw, is a hand saw used as a musical instrument. Capable of continuous glissando (portamento), the sound creates an ethereal tone, very similar to the theremin. The musical saw is classified as a plaque frict ...

) (also of Giant Paw and Creaming Jesus) * Marc Burrows (bass guitar)

Timeline

Discography

* '' Now That's What I Call Steampunk! Volume 1'' (2010) * Sewer (wax cylinder edition) (2010) * '' A Very Steampunk Christmas EP'' (2010) * ''Anachrony in the UK: Live in London'' (2011) * ''Free Spirit (wax cylinder edition)'' (2011) * ''This May Be The Reason Why The Men That Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing Cannot Be Killed By Conventional Weapons'' (2012) * ''The Gin Song/Third Class Coffin'' (2013) * ''Not Your Typical Victorians'' (2015) * ''Double Negative'' (released March 2018)

Awards

The band won three categories at the 2016 Pure Rawk Awards: * ''Band of the year'' * ''Frontperson of the year'' (Andy Heintz) * ''Album of the year'' (Not Your Typical Victorians)

References

External links

* *
Anachronism in Context Interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Men That Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing Steampunk music English grindcore musical groups 2008 establishments in England Rock music groups from London Musical groups established in 2008