Funeral Dress

Funeral Dress

Funeral Dress is a Belgian punk band from Herentals, active since 1985. The group forms around oi, punk and street punk, and begins as an attempt to bring energy back to the Belgian punk scene. It becomes one of the longer-running bands in its genre.

Early releases and first albums

In late 1986 and early 1987, the band records five songs for a demo and releases its first single, Army Life. That recording is a basic four-track session, but it helps establish the basis for later releases and builds the band’s following. The first full-length album, Free Beer for the Punx, appears in 1990 and includes songs such as Sex, Drugs and Rock'n Roll, The Pogo Never Stops, I'm in Love with OI and the title track. A second album, Songs About Sex, Beer and Punkrock, follows during the 1990s.

Tours, line-up changes and later records

During the 1990s, Funeral Dress plays larger shows with bands including GBH, The Exploited, Sham 69 and X Ray Spex. The band tours the United States for the first time in 1998. In 2000 it releases Party Political Bullshit and tours the US again with The Casualties, The Virus and Endless Struggle. The fourth studio album, A Way of Life, is released in 2001, followed by another US tour in 2002.

By the end of 2002, new members join the group, and this line-up becomes its most productive. The single Party On gains airplay on Belgian national radio and remains in the charts for 18 weeks, helping the band secure shows across Belgium, Europe, Russia and the USA. From 2002 onwards, this line-up releases Come On Follow in 2004, Hello From the Underground in 2006 and Global Warning in 2009.

Other appearances

Funeral Dress appears in the films Ex Drummer and Punk's Not Dead the Movie. The band also plays extensive live dates in Europe and records a total of seven studio albums and one DVD within the material described here.