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The Varukers | |
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 The Varukers performing inModena on 23 April 2006 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Leamington Spa, United Kingdom |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 1979–1988, 1993–present |
| Members |
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| Past members |
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The Varukers are a Britishpunk rock band formed in 1979 by vocalist Anthony "Rat" Martin. They produced their most influential recordings in the early 1980s. The band play inD-beat, the musical style ofDischarge. Also like Discharge, the Varukers' lyrics carry ananarchist political ideology.
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,the Exploited, andCharged GBH took the existing 1977-era punk sound and melded it with the incessant, heavy drumbeats and "wall of sound" distortion guitar sound ofnew wave of British heavy metal (NWOBHM) bands such asMotörhead. 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 traditionalUK82 style. Since the band had former members ofDischarge, aD-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.
Even with Rat splitting his time between the Varukers andDischarge and Biff splitting his time withSick on the Bus. The Varukers continue to tour. They shared a headlining spot with such acts asBroken Bones,The Adicts,Vice Squad andGBH at theBritish Invasion 2k6 concert festival inSan Bernardino,California, which ended in rioting.
Guitarist Sean is the former manager of thepublic houseThe Olde Angel inNottingham,United Kingdom.
Journalist andKilling Joke biographer Jyrki "Spider" Hämäläinen directed a documentary about the band that was released 2022.[4]
Chart placings from theUK Independent Chart.[5]
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| National | |
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