Underclass UK

Underclass UK is a British street punk group from the United Kingdom, active from 1987 to the present. The band forms in the early 1980s around frontman Stuart Newman, who begins the project as a teenager by playing covers of 1980s punk and hard rock. He later recruits guitarist Andy Price, and the pair write much of the material for the debut album Gratuitous.

History

The first version of the band does not last, after drug charges lead to Price serving a prison sentence. When he is released, the group has effectively ended. Newman later works as an audio engineer, produces videos for street punk acts including the Exploited and the Cockney Rejects, and writes the Control! street punk fanzine.

About three decades after the original idea for the band, Newman returns to the studio to complete Gratuitous. The project then continues as a live act, including an opening slot for UK Subs in London. Underclass UK also records “World Class Tears (of a Nation)”, which helps establish the band further.

Recordings and releases

The band releases its second album, Kill The Poor, in 2012. The album is described as street punk with metal and glam influences, and the band’s sound is compared with the Exploited and the Cockney Rejects. Just weeks after the release, the band’s Facebook page is shut down after the album is miscategorised as likely to incite hatred and violence.

Underclass UK later plays with a revised line-up that includes Andy Brown on drums and Clem Pavey on bass. This version plays one show at BH2 in London supporting 999, before original drummer Quinn returns because of time constraints on Brown. The band then supports Argy Bargy at New Cross Inn in south London, and records Live & Loud with that line-up.

Later activity

After a short run of summer gigs around London, Quinn leaves again and the band begins writing and recording its fourth album in September 2013. Underclass UK’s audio releases are made available for free download through its Nimbit store, as well as via ReverbNation and Spotify.

Style

The group is rooted in the 1980s British street punk scene and is associated with Oi, punk rock and street rock. Its music is direct and raw, with an explicitly working-class outlook and its own identity rather than a simple imitation of its influences.