Attrition (band)
| Attrition | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Coventry, England |
| Genres | Industrial, dark wave, gothic rock, ambient |
| Years active | 1980–present |
| Labels | Third Mind, Projekt Records, Two Gods, Metropolis |
| Associated acts | ENGRAM |
| Website | www.attrition.co.uk |
| Members | Martin Bowes Kerri Bowes Anni Hogan Simon Stansfield Ian Arkley |
| Past members | Julia Niblock Chris Bowes Ashley Niblock Marianne Alex Novak Pete Morris Garry Cox Laurie Reade Sin D'rella Tylean Alexys Becerra Richard Woodfield |
Attrition are an electronic music band, formed in Coventry, England in 1980 by Martin Bowes and Julia Niblock. The band emerged from the experimental post-punk scene of the early 1980s and, along with other groups such as Throbbing Gristle, Coil, Einstürzende Neubauten, and In the Nursery, greatly contributed to the development of industrial music in the UK. Still active 30 years later, Attrition have been a stanchion of darkwave and industrial music, influencing many younger bands in the genres while continuously fine tuning their own distinctive sound.
In 1979, Martin started a xeroxed fanzine called Alternative Sounds to document the Coventry music scene (including such notables as The Specials and Furious Apples). The fanzine ran for 18 issues until 1981, and culminated in a vinyl compilation, "Sent from Coventry" (on Cherry Red) and a brief appearance on the BBC's Something Else programme. During this time, Martin met Julia at a local gig and, with the addition of Martin's brother Chris on guitar, Attrition was formed. In 1980 Chris was replaced by Julia's brother Ashley Niblock on synthesizer, and a short time later they replaced their live drummer with a drum machine; these changes facilitated Attrition's development beyond the post-punk of the early 80s into more experimental veins of sound.
Influenced by punk's do-it-yourself aesthetic, Attrition took part in the emerging cassette culture, contributing multiple early tracks to underground cassette compilations and fanzines alongside contemporaries such as Portion Control, Konstruktivits, Chris & Cosey, The Legendary Pink Dots, Nurse with Wound, and Coil. Attrition's first album release came in the form of Death House, a cassette of two experimental electronic soundtracks inspired by zombie films. In 1983, Attrition received their first exposure in the national music press through a review by Dave Henderson in his "Wild Planet" column in Sounds, which led to their "Dreamsleep" track appearing on Henderson's compilation The Elephant Table Album, the band's first vinyl appearance. A postal collaboration with Seattle-based improvisational collective Audio Leter led to Attrition's second cassette album release, Action and Reaction. Attrition's first London concert followed, with a supporting slot from Coil, and the first European tour in April 1984 with the Legendary Pink Dots.
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