The Varukers are a British

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

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- ...

, the musical style of Discharge. Also like Discharge, the Varukers' lyrics carry an

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

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 Chaos UK is an English punk rock band formed in 1979 in Portishead, near Bristol. They emerged as part of the anarcho-punk scene, developing a fast and aggressive hardcore punk style. The band recorded two EPs and a full LP for Riot City Rec ...

Amebix Amebix were an English punk rock band from Tavistock, Devon. A pioneer of the crust punk genre, Amebix's merger of anarcho-punk and post-punk with elements of heavy metal music, heavy metal, particularly early extreme metal, inspired musicians ...

the Exploited The Exploited are a Scottish punk rock band from Edinburgh, formed in 1978 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 GBH (originally known as Charged GBH) are an English punk rock band which was formed in 1978 by vocalist Colin Abrahall, guitarist Colin "Jock" Blyth, bassist Sean McCarthy (replaced by Ross Lomas after two years) and drummer Andy "Wilf" Willi ...

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 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 ...

(NWOBHM) bands such as

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 ...

. 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 Street punk (sometimes alternatively spelled streetpunk) is an urban working class-based subgenre of punk rock, which emerged as a rebellion against the perceived artistic pretensions of the first wave of British punk. The earliest street pun ...

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. 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 The Adicts are a British punk rock band from Ipswich, Suffolk, England. A popular English punk rock band of the 1980s, they were often in the indie charts during that decade. The Adicts originated as The Afterbirth in late 1975 but never had ...

Vice Squad Vice Squad are an English punk rock band formed in 1979 in Bristol. The band was formed from two other local punk bands, The Contingent and TV Brakes. The songwriter and vocalist Beki Bondage (born Rebecca Bond) was a founding member of the b ...

and GBH at the British Invasion 2k6 concert festival in

San Bernardino San Bernardino ( ) is a city in and the 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 census, making it the List of ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

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

public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

The Olde Angel in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

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

. Journalist and

Killing Joke Killing Joke were an English rock music, rock band formed in Notting Hill, London, in 1979 by Jaz Coleman (vocals, keyboards), Paul Ferguson (drums), Geordie Walker (guitar) and Youth (musician), Youth (bass). Their first album, ''Killing Joke ...

biographer Jyrki "Spider" Hämäläinen directed a documentary about the band that was released 2022.

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 ...

.Lazell, Barry (1997) ''Indie Hits 1980–1989'', Cherry Red Books, , p. 245

Studio Albums

* ''Bloodsuckers'', LP (1983) - no. 8 * ''One Struggle, One Fight'', LP (1985) * ''Prepare for the Attack'', LP (1986) * ''Murder'', LP/CD (1998) * ''How Do You Sleep?'', LP/CD/Casette (2000) * ''Hellbound'', LP/CD (2005) * ''Damned and Defiant'', LP/CD (2017)

EP

* ''Protest and Survive'' (1981) - no. 31 * ''I Don't Wanna Be a Victim'' (1982) - no. 15 * ''Led to the Slaughter'' (1984) - no. 24 * ''Another Religion, Another War'' (1984) - no. 47 * ''Massacred Millions'' (1984) - no. 30 * ''Nothing Changed'' (1994)

Singles

* ''Die for Your Government'' (1982) - no. 5 * ''I Don't Wanna be a Victim!'' (1982) * ''Led To Slaughter'' (1984) * ''No Hope For A Future/ Never Again'' (1984) * ''Another Religion Another War'' (1984) * ''Massacred Millions'' (1984) * ''Humanity'' (1996) * ''Blood Money'' (2016) * ''Die For Your de Government '' (2017) * ''From The Depths'' (2021)

Live Albums

* ''Live In Holland'', LP/CD (1985) * ''Live In Leeds 1984'', LP/CD (1994) * ''Killing Myself to Live'', CD (2009) * '' Noisy Bastards!'', LP/CD (2020) * ''Live On Crucial Chaos: New York U.S.A'', LP (2023)

Compilations

* ''Prepare For The Atacks'', LP (1986) * ''Deadly Games'', LP/CD (1989) * ''The Punk Singles 1981-1985'', LP/CD (1996) * ''Still Bollox but Still Here'', CD (1995) * ''The Retch Files Volume 1'', CD (2000) * ''Massacred Millions'', CD (2001) * ''Vintage Varukers - Rare And Unreleased - 1980 - 1985'', LP/CD (2001) * ''Riot City Years: '83-'84'', CD (2004) * ''Punk Singles 1981–1985'', CD (2005) * ''1980–2005: Collection Of 25 Years'', CD (2006) * ''No Masters No Slaves'', CD (2007) * ''Damnation Of Our Species'', CD (2011) * ''1984-2000'', CD (2013) * ''The Varukers'' , LP EP'7 (2016) * ''More Religion - More War (Anniversary Edition)'' , LP (2019) * ''The Demos Anniversary Edition'', LP/CD (2019)

Video

* ''The Varukers & Casualties* & Glory Stompers* – Live In New York'', VHS/PAL (1994) * ''Live Protest And Survive'', DVD (2005) * ''Chaos UK, One Way System, The Varukers – Live At "Berlins" Nottingham 30/8/98'', DVD

References

External links

The Varukers on allmusic.com ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

The Varukers on Myspace

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