Location: Luton, UK
Active: 1979-1983, 2008-present

UK Decay came up from the second wave of UK punk from the London-adjacent town of Luton in 1979. It was this era of the punk rock scene where things were already being described as post punk, as the first wave bands like the Sex Pistols and The Clash etc were already perceived as having imploded, and divisions and definitions began to distinguish themselves. Despite this fracturing, new possibilities and diversities were possible, and UK Decay were at the forefront of what was becoming a more gothic punk, along with Bauhaus and positive-punk bands like Southern Death Cult/Death Cult. Their first single was a split 7”, their contribution being the graphic and gory depiction of an automobile accident, titled “Car Crash”, and an politically charged social commentary, the eponymous track, “UK Decay”. The flip side was from fellow local band Pneumonia, whose guitarist Steve Spon would soon join UK Decay. 

They followed up with the Black EP in 1980 which was socially critical punk, but Black Cat, and the name itself, as well as the band lurking in a tunnel revealed a darker nature. The ‘For My Country’ single next up in that same year didn’t show much as far as their gothic leanings, although the band did use the term goth to describe a certain element of their sound. It was not until after a US tour with Dead Kennedys, that their 1981 single ‘Unexpected Guest’, a song about a suspenseful presence of an unknown stranger in the house, did the band come into their own as goth punks, retaining a certain horror element from then on. Their debut LP ‘For Madmen Only’ came in 1981, and it was a theatric goth punk opera that stands out, to me at least as one of the most unique albums of all time. From it came the ‘Sexual’ single. 

After Fresh Records was bought out, UK Decay teamed up with Crass Records on the Corpus Christi sub-label for their final release, the ‘Rising From the Dread’ EP, featuring the brooding ‘Werewolf’ which took up the entirety of the A side, laced with crescendos and dirges, howls, grunts and growls, then flipping over to give us, among others, the epic (though shorter) song “Testament”. Represented on the legendary ‘Gothic Rock’ (1992) compilation companion to Mick Mercer’s photo book of the same name, “Testament” was the gateway song to UK Decay for many a young goth in the 1990s, and for me the best song on the album. 

Unfortunately the Rising From The Dread EP would be the last studio release from UK Decay for some time. In 1983, a cassette of their final show was released, ‘A Night for Celebration’. Also that year, ‘The Whip’ compilation was released containing a self-titled track from Slave Drive and then as Meat of Youth with another self titled track on the equally fantastic batcave compilation, ‘Young Limbs And Numb Hymns’. Both short lived bands consisted of UK Decay alumni Eddie Branch, Steve ‘Abbo’ Abbott and Steve Harle before they teamed up with Albie De Luca (Gene Loves Jezebel) to become Furyo. Meanwhile, Steve Spon teamed up with remnants of another gothic rock/postpunk/batcave band Ritual to become In Excelsis. 

UK Decay reunited briefly in 1993, and then again on a more solid basis in the early 2000s, resulting in the ‘Death So Fatal’ compilation, containing the first split single, Peel Sessions, and live recordings. In 2008 they performed at the Drop Dead Festival in Lisbon, Portugal introducing them to a yet a new generation of gothic punks and deathrockers. This was followed by several other gigs and festivals and the next drop dead in Berlin. Their second studio album was released in 2013, titled ‘New Hope For The Dead’ preceded by the single ‘Killer”/”Heavy Metal Jews’ earlier that year. As of 2020 UK Decay remains active. 

Related: Resiztors, Pneumonia, Slave Drive, Meat Of Youth, Ritual, In Excelcis, Furyo

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