Pop Will Eat Itself

Pop Will Eat Itself

Pop Will Eat Itself, also known as PWEI and the Poppies, are a grebo band from Stourbridge, United Kingdom. Their sound develops from alternative rock, alternative dance, alternative hip hop, electronic music and industrial influences, and the group forms in the mid-1980s after earlier line-ups and related projects in the West Midlands scene.

Origins and early line-ups

An early version of the band forms in 1981 under the name From Eden. That line-up includes Clint Mansell, Adam Mole, Chris Fradgley, Malcolm Treece and Miles Hunt, with Graham Crabb later recruited on drums. After From Eden splits, Treece and Hunt go on to form The Wonder Stuff, while Mansell, Crabb and Mole form Wild and Wandering and bring in Richard March on bass. The group then becomes Pop Will Eat Itself in 1986, taking its name from an NME quote about popular music recycling its own ideas.

The band members associated with the group include Kerry Hammond, Graham Crabb, Clint Mansell, Richard March, Adam Mole and Fuzz Townshend.

First releases and rise

Pop Will Eat Itself develops its early songwriting through short, catchy pop songs issued on EPs under both Wild and Wandering and Pop Will Eat Itself. These releases receive airplay with help from John Peel and gain attention among university students. The band then expands its influences through hip hop acts such as the Beastie Boys, Run DMC and Public Enemy. Graham Crabb moves from drums to vocals, and the group replaces live drums with a drum machine called Dr. Nightmare.

Tracks from this period include “There Is No Love Between Us Anymore” and “Def Con One”. The band signs to RCA and reaches the UK top 40 with “Can U Dig It?” and “Wise Up! Sucker” from This Is the Day…This Is the Hour…This Is This!.

RCA period and political themes

On RCA, the band releases three albums. The first two, This Is This! and Cure for Sanity, are recorded with Flood, whose work also includes Nine Inch Nails and U2. Cure for Sanity is the band’s most electronic album up to that point. Their next album, The Looks or the Lifestyle, brings in a live drummer alongside loops, programmed drums and live guitars, and becomes their most polished and commercial release.

That record includes top 20 hits such as “Karmadrome” and “Bulletproof”. “Get the Girl! Kill the Baddies!” becomes the band’s biggest hit, peaking at number 9 in the UK singles chart. After RCA drops the band, Pop Will Eat Itself perform on Top of the Pops without being signed to a label.

The band’s political content becomes more direct during this period. The Looks or the Lifestyle carries an anti-far-right message and uses the Anti Nazi League’s red arrow emblem in its artwork. The single “Ich Bin Ein Auslander”, recorded with Fun-Da-Mental, attacks the far right and public apathy towards it.

Infectious Records and industrial shift

After leaving RCA, the band signs to Infectious Records, a label started by Korda Marshell. During this period the group keeps its cartoon-like image while writing darker songs such as “Wake Up! Time To Die!”, “88 Seconds” and “Mother”.

The 1994 album Dos Dedos Mis Amigos marks a move towards a more industrial sound, with help from Trent Reznor. The song “Ich Bin Ein Auslander” appears again in a different version as the opening track. The band later releases the remix album Two Fingers My Friends, featuring remixes by The Orb, Apollo 440, Renegade Soundwave and others. Around this time Graham Crabb leaves, “The Buzzard” of Yeah! God joins, and Clint Mansell takes over full vocals. The group continues in an industrial direction, records and tours until 1996, and also records a collaboration with Orbital.

Breaks, reunions and later activity

The band pauses before completing work on a later album with Trent Reznor. Although it does not officially split, it does not finish the record, citing boredom and musical differences. A cover of Gary Numan’s “Friends” appears from this period.

A reunion of sorts follows in 2005, when the members play eight UK shows and record demos. Clint Mansell and Richard March are unable to continue with the reforming line-up, and the remaining members pursue the Vileevils project. Graham Crabb later steps away from Vileevils to revive Pop Will Eat Itself. The band releases “Axe of Men 2010” as a CD/DVD package, and a new line-up is later announced with Crabb as the only original member and Mary Byker as co-vocalist. New Noise Designed By A Sadist follows on Cooking Vinyl, with a UK tour after its release.