Rudimentary Peni
| Rudimentary Peni | |
|---|---|
| Origin | United Kingdom |
| Genres | Anarcho-punk, hardcore punk, deathrock, art punk, gothic rock |
| Years active | 1980–present |
| Labels | Outer Himalayan Records, Crass Records, Corpus Christi Records, Southern Records |
| Associated acts | The Magits |
| Members |
Nick Blinko Grant Matthews Jon Greville |
Rudimentary Peni are a British anarcho-punk/deathrock band formed in 1980, emerging from the London anarcho-punk scene. Lead singer/guitarist Nick Blinko is notorious for his witty macabre lyrics and dark pen-and-ink artwork, prominently featured on all of Rudimentary Peni's albums. Blinko is also rumored to have written the band's Pope Adrian 37th Psychristiatric album while resident in a psychiatric hospital. Bassist Grant Matthews has also written a number of songs for the band, though his lyrics primarily focus on sociopolitical themes. Very few photos exist of the band, as their albums feature Blinko's drawings instead, but Pushead published a few in an early edition of his magazine.
Rudimentary Peni were formed in June 1980 in Abbots Langley, Hertfordshire by Blinko (vocals, guitar), Greville (drums) and Matthews (bass).
Blinko and Greville had met years prior in Langleybury Comprehensive secondary school. Greville had been playing drums since he was young, beginning lessons at the age of 10, and slowly became interested in punk rock around the time Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols by the Sex Pistols was released After meeting Blinko through a mutual friend, the pair began the experimental electronic duo the Magits, formed in 1977 and dissolved around 1980. The Magits released their first and only EP, Fully Coherent, in 1979 on Blinko's newly formed Outer Himalayan Records; it was the label's first release. In his 2006 book The Day the Country Died: A History of Anarcho Punk 1980–1984, punk historian Ian Glasper referred to the sound of the Magits' EP as a "meandering collection of keyboard torture".
Blinko, Greville, and Matthews subsequently formed Rudimentary Peni. In Maximum RocknRoll issue No. 237 (February 2003), Matthews explained how he came up with the name of the band: "When I was at school studying biology, we were told that in the fetal stage the clitoris is a rudimentary penis". By 1981, the band had played their first show, along with the S-Haters and Soft Drinks in Watford, Hertfortshire. Greville later characterized the first show, as well as the ones following it, as fairly disappointing, setting a precedent for the band's distaste for playing live. While they were inspired by punk rock, the band did not adopt the look of the day, as Greville noted: "The majority of people [were] clearly disappointed that we didn't have green mohicans and multiple piercings...if you were the sort of person to be put off by what we looked like, you were never going to understand or appreciate the songs anyway".
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