Hagar the Womb

Hagar the Womb

Hagar the Womb are a punk band from London, United Kingdom, active from 1980 to 1986 and associated with the anarcho-punk scene. The group forms in 1980 in the toilets of the Wapping Anarchy Centre, a space linked to the efforts of Crass and Poison Girls. Their first performance comes a week after they form, when they play with Zounds and The Mob.

The band begins as an all-female group, with the stated aim of adding a female voice to a scene they see as male-dominated. They also reject the stylistic limits associated with many bands of the period. Their membership changes regularly over time and includes Nicola Corcoran, Stephanie Cohen, Jon Attwood, Ruth Elias, Janet Nassim, Karen Amsden, Chris Knowles, Jane Epstein, Mitch Flacko, Paul Harding, Elaine Reubens, Julie Sorrel and Paul Venables.

During their original run, Hagar the Womb tour the UK punk circuit for five years. They release two 12-inch singles and record a Peel Session for BBC Radio One on 11 February 1984. Their first release, The Word of the Womb, appears on Conflict’s Mortarhate label and spends much of 1984 near the top of the UK Indie Chart, kept from number one by more mainstream acts including The Cure and The Smiths. The following year they issue Funnery In a Nunnery, after which the band effectively splits and records no further new material.

After 25 years apart, Hagar the Womb reunite in 2012. In later activity they play with the Mekons in 2019 and release the album Hagitate on Bandcamp. A concert in Leuven, Belgium, is planned for October 2021, postponed to 20 May 2022, and set to open for Pussy Riot.

Among the band’s later-associated names, drummer Chris Knowles becomes known as the cult DJ Chris Liberator, while bassist Mitch Flacko plays bass in avant-garde ensembles.