GBH and Commoner

In opposition to Thatcher’s indulgence of the middle and upper classes, punk metal band GBH arrived in 1978 to voice their concerns and launch their assault on injustice. Adorned in black leather, dyed-blonde mohicans, and an appropriate punk attitude, the band released a pair of demos in 1980 before embarking on their first overseas tour in the early 1980s. GBH’s debut release “City Baby Attacked By Rats” arrived in 1982 offering a no-holds-barred critique of British and European culture. Featuring an assaultive sound of guitar, drums and bass played loud, fast and furiously, the band became pioneers of street punk or UK82 alongside The Exploited, Picture Frame Seduction, and Discharge.

Also in 1982 GBH issued the EPs “No Survivors”, “Sick Boy”, and “Give Me Fire / Man Trap” on Clay Records, which were compiled into a compilation album later that year. The full-length “City Babys Revenge” followed in 1983 earning positive reviews and cementing the group’s reputation as a hard-hitting and politically-focused quartet. A string of studio albums were subsequently released in the ‘80s including 1986’s “Midnight Madness And Beyond”, 1987’s “No Need to Panic”, and 1989’s “A Fridge Too Far”, as well as the EPs “Catch 23 / Hellhole”, “Do What You Do”, “Oh No. It’s GBH Again”, and “Wot a Bargain”. Unlike many of their peers GBH were able to maintain their devoted following by rarely diverging from their street punk sound and style, however adopted speed metal influences on their 1992 album “Church of the Truly Warped”.

The 1996 album “Punk Junkies” followed in 1996, after which GBH enjoyed somewhat of a resurgence in popularity, after fading from view in the early ‘90s. The band’s ninth studio album “Ha Ha” was released in 2002 and was supported by an extensive international world tour like many of its predecessors and drawing huge crowds in doing so. The studio album “Cruel and Unusual” arrived in 2004 on Idol Records, followed by “Perfume and Piss” in 2010.