Attrition (band)

History

In 1979, Martin Bowes launched a photocopied fanzine, Alternative Sounds, to cover Coventry's music scene, featuring bands like The Specials and Furious Apples. The zine lasted 18 issues until 1981, ending with a vinyl compilation, Sent from Coventry, on Cherry Red and a short spot on the BBC's Something Else. Bowes met Julia Niblock at a local show, and with his brother Chris on guitar, they formed Attrition. By 1980, Chris was out, replaced by Julia's brother Ashley Niblock on synthesizer, and a live drummer was swapped for a drum machine, steering the band away from post-punk toward experimental sounds.

Embracing punk's DIY ethos, Attrition contributed early tracks to underground cassette compilations alongside Portion Control, Konstruktivits, Chris & Cosey, The Legendary Pink Dots, Nurse with Wound, and Coil. Their first album was Death House, a cassette with two experimental electronic soundtracks inspired by zombie films. In 1983, a review by Dave Henderson in Sounds got them national press, leading to the track Dreamsleep on The Elephant Table Album, their first vinyl release.

A tape-exchange collaboration with Seattle's Audio Leter produced their second cassette album, Action and Reaction. Their first London concert had Coil as support, and they toured Europe in April 1984 with The Legendary Pink Dots. Their debut album, The Attrition of Reason, came out on Third Mind Records in autumn 1984. The next year, Julia left to join The Legendary Pink Dots, and Bowes released Smiling, at the Hypogonder Club with new members Marianne, Alex Novak, and Pete Morris.

That lineup fell apart, and Bowes issued In the Realm of the Hungry Ghosts, a collection of rarities and B-sides, marking the end of their time on Third Mind. They moved to Belgium's Antler-Subway Records for At the Fiftieth Gate in 1988, adding guitarist Gary Cox.

Musical influences and characteristics

Martin Bowes has cited influences including The Velvet Underground, Crass, the Sex Pistols, Magazine, Joy Division, Cabaret Voltaire, Kraftwerk, Elvis, and Beethoven. In the early 1980s, Attrition was grouped into the post-punk movement and later seen as an early part of industrial and darkwave genres, also gaining a following in the goth scene. By the early 1990s Bowes had become the primary member and songwriter, and the band developed a distinctive electro-acoustic sound based on his deep growl, Julia's fretless bass and breathy sub-operatic vocals, and electronic instrumentation including a Korg Mono/Poly, Korg MS-20, Roland MC-202 sequencer, Roland TR-808 drum machine, and various effects units. Bowes noted that in the early days there was no established scene and it was difficult to find venues that appreciated their music, unlike the later darkwave and goth club culture.