Picture Frame Seduction

Picture Frame Seduction

Picture Frame Seduction is a punk group from Haverfordwest in West Wales. The band forms in 1978 and begins life under the name The Frames before changing to its current name in 1979.

Early history

The group records its first demo in 1979, including a very fast version of Pearl Harbour. It plays the same kind of punk as contemporaries The Partisans from Bridgend and is associated with the UK82 scene. Keith, the band’s songwriter and vocalist, spends a brief period as drummer with Discharge in 1980.

Releases and line-up

In the 1980s, guitarist Mark Bozier appears on the band’s vinyl releases for Rot Records and SO SO Record. The band also features bassist Steve Parkin, who later lives in a rural community of anarcho-punks in mid Wales and goes missing for ten years. Keith and Griff remain in contact between 1987 and 2000, and the band reforms for a one-off show in that period.

Picture Frame Seduction releases Sex War on its own Cultjam Records in 2005, followed by a split album with TSOTR in 2006 called Skateboarding.

Live activity and reputation

The group plays at major punk festivals in Europe, including Rebellion and Punk n' Disorderly, and appears at Rebellion Festival events in several later years, including Blackpool in 2009 and shows in Italy, England and Amsterdam in 2010 and 2011. A later line-up includes Ash Shannon on guitar, Steve Arthur on bass, Keith on vocals and Griff. The band also returns to play a one-off home-town show to an audience of around 500 people.

Picture Frame Seduction is also known for conflict at shows in the early 1980s, with run-ins with local authorities and concerts ending in fights and anger. The group’s history includes deaths of fans at shows, the death of Mark Bozier from a heart attack at 26, and Steve Parkin’s later disappearance. It splits in 1987, but continues to reform for selected performances.