Chaos UK

Chaos UK is an English punk rock band formed in 1979 in Portishead, near Bristol. They emerged as part of the anarcho-punk scene, developing a fast and aggressive hardcore punk style. The band recorded two EPs and a full LP for Riot City Records. In the process, they, along with fellow Bristolians Disorder and Stoke's Discharge, revolutionized the hardcore punk scene. In particular, the Japanese '80s hardcore punk bands were heavily influenced by Chaos UK and Disorder's brutal take on punk. Chaos UK's debut LP was notable in the fact that the band's label claimed it was the "fastest, noisiest LP in the cosmos" in the short-lived "Punk Lives" magazine. Vocal duties on this recording were also handled by bassist Chaos.

The original line-up consisted of Simon Greenham (vocals), Andy Farrier (guitar), Adrian Rice (bass, aka Lice and later Chaos/Kaos), and Richard Potts (drums, aka Potts). The mid-1980s saw an almost new line-up, with Chaos remaining the only original member. He was joined by Mower on vocals, Gabba on guitar (previously with Nottingham's The Seats of Piss), and Chuck on drums. Over the rest of the 1980s, Chaos UK were the mainstay and lynchpin of the UK hardcore punk scene playing many hundreds of shows around the world, including Japan (the first English punk band to do so, but with a stand-in drummer: Blackmore of Bristol punk band Lunatic Fringe), the United States, Mexico, and all over Europe.

Discography

Chart placings shown are from the UK Indie Chart.

Releases

Independent chart placings
*Demo (1981)
*''Burning Britain E.P.'' 7" (Riot City. Riot 6, 1982) No. 8
*''Loud Political & Uncompromising'' 7" (Riot City. Riot 12, 1982) No. 27
*''Chaos UK LP'' (Riot City, 1983) No. 16
*'' Short Sharp Shock'' 12" (COR/Weasel, 1984)
*''Just Mere Slaves'' 12" (Selfish, 1984)
*''Chaos UK/Extreme Noise Terror split LP'' (Manic Ears, 1986)
*''Chipping Sodbury Bonfire Tapes'' LP (Slap Up/Weasel, 1989)
*''Headfuck'' 7" (Desperate Attempt, 1989)
*''Head on a Pole'' 7" (Desperate Attempt, 1991)
*''Enough to Make You Sick'' LP (Vinyl Japan, 1991)
*''Chaos UK/Raw Noise split LP'' (Vinyl Japan, 1991)
*''Live in Japan'' LP/CD (Cargo, 1991)
*''Total Chaos'' LP/CD (Anagram, 1991)
*''Death Side/Chaos UK split'' CD (Selfish, 1993)
*''100% Two Fingers in the Air Punk Rock'' 12"/CD (Slap Up/Century Media, 1993)
*''Secret Men'' 7" (Slap Up, 1993)
*''Floggin' the Corpse'' CD (Anagram, 1996)
*''King for A Day'' 7" (Discipline, 1996)
*''Morning After the Night Before'' CD (Cleopatra, 1997)
*''Heard It, Seen It, Done It'' LP/CD (Discipline, 1999)
*''Chaos UK/Assfort split'' 12" (Discipline, 2000)
*''Kanpai'' 12"/CD (Discipline, 2000)
*''Chaos UK/FUK split'' CD (HG Fact, 2007)
*''Digital Filth'' CD/EP (Break The Records, 2015)
*''Shit Man Fucker!'' EP (540 Records, 2016)
*Just Mere Slaves CD (Black Konflik, 2020)
*Stunned To Silence CD (Black Konflik, 2020)

Reissues

*''The Singles'' LP (Riot City, 1984 - includes first two 7"s) No. 31
*'' Short Sharp Shock'' CD (Anagram, 1991)
*''Radioactive Earslaughter/100% Two Fingers in the Air'' CD (Anagram, 1993)
*''The Best of Chaos UK'' CD (Anagram, 1999)
*''Enough to Make You Sick/Chipping Sodbury'' CD (Anagram, 1993)

Compilations

*''Punk and Disorderly'' LP (Abstract/Posh Boy, 1982) "4 Minute Warning"
*''Riotous Assembly'' LP (Riot City Records, 1982) "Senseless Conflict"
*''UK/DK'' LP (Cherry Red, 1983) "No Security"
*''Digging in Water'' LP (COR,1986) "Kill Your Baby" a different/faster version
*''Punks Not Dread'' LP (Sink Below, 1991) "For Adolfs Only", "Bone Idol", "Brain Bomb"

References

Bibliography

*

External links

An interview from their Japanese tour (archived)
*

Anarcho-punk groups
English punk rock groups
Musical groups established in 1979

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