Mass were an England
post-punk
Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-roc ...
band. The band consisted of Gary Asquith, Mick Allen, Mark Cox, and Danny Briottet. Asquith, Allen and Cox had been members of
Rema-Rema
Rema-Rema was a short-lived English music group, consisting of Gary Asquith (guitar/vocals), Marco Pirroni (guitar), Mick Allen (bass/vocals), Mark Cox (keyboards) and Dorothy Max Prior (drums, generally known only as "Max").
History
Asquith ...
.
[Lazell, Barry (1998) ''Indie Hits 1980-1989'', Cherry Red Books, , p. 142] Mass released a 7" single, "You And I", in 1980 on the
4AD label.
[Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p. 572][Gimarc, George (2005) ''Punk Diary'', Backbeat Books, , p. 400, 499] They released the ''Labour of Love'' LP in 1981, also on 4AD, which saw comparisons made with
Joy Division
Joy Division were an English rock band formed in Salford in 1976. The group consisted of vocalist Ian Curtis, guitarist/keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris.
Sumner and Hook formed the band after attend ...
and
The Birthday Party.
It spent five weeks on the
UK Indie Chart
The UK Independent Singles Chart and UK Independent Albums Chart are charts of the best-selling independent singles and albums, respectively, in the United Kingdom. Originally published in January 1980, and widely known as the indie chart, the rele ...
, peaking at number 19.
Mass broke up in 1981.
The Worriers
(Marina Merosi, ''ZigZag'' March 1984, p12-13) Allen and Cox formed The Wolfgang Press
The Wolfgang Press was an English post-punk band, active from 1983 to 1995, recording for the 4AD label. The core of the band was Michael Allen (vocals, bass), Mark Cox (keyboards), and Andrew Gray (guitar).
The group is best known for its 1 ...
in 1983,Renegade Soundwave
Renegade Soundwave (sometimes shortened to RSW) was an electronic music group. Formed in London in 1986, the group originally consisted of Gary Asquith, Carl Bonnie and Danny Briottet. Their debut LP '' Soundclash'' was released in 1990 on Mu ...
in 1986. ''Labour of Love'' was reissued on CD in November 2005, with the two tracks from the single included. It was reissued on vinyl by Desire Records in 2011.
Discography
Albums
*''Labour of Love'' (May 1981), 4AD
::"Mass"
::"Why"
::"III"
::"Why"
::"Isn't Life Nice"
::"Elephant Talk"
::"F.A.H.T.C.F."
::"Cross Purposes"
::"Innocence"
Singles
*"You and I"/"Cabbage" (August 1980), 4AD
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mass
English post-punk music groups
English new wave musical groups
4AD artists