Disorder (band)


Disorder are an English street punk band that formed in the Bristol area of England in 1980, and has existed with varying line-ups. They are aligned with politically charged punk bands.
Disorder were part of the "protest punk" movement, and were one of the bands that spearheaded the Bristol punk scene in the early 1980s. The BBC DJ John Peel described their early singles as sounding like Triumph Bonneville motorbikes.

History

Disorder formed in 1980 in Bristol. The original line-up was Steve Curtis, Steve Allen, Nick Peters, and Virus, although Steve Robinson soon replaced Peters, and this line-up recorded the first two EPs by the band.
The band sent a demo tape to local punk label Riot City Records, but the label opted not to sign them, and instead they formed their own Disorder Records label along with Heartbeat Records and Riot City boss Simon Edwards.
A series of events led to line-up changes: Robinson split up with girlfriend Beki Bondage and began glue-sniffing and moved to Berlin. Virus got into trouble with the police over the ownership of his new drumkit, and Dean also left. Boobs replaced him on vocals and when Steve Robinson left, Taf, took over bass guitar. Drumming was taken over by Potsy. Taf would be the only constant member of the band in the following years, which saw an ever-changing line-up.
The band's debut album, Under the Scalpel Blade, was released in 1984. The band relocated to Norway in the mid-1980s, where they recorded a split album with Kafka Prosess.
The band became popular across Europe, the United States, and Japan. Re-issues of the band's back-catalogue led to renewed interest, and the band issued a new album in 2005, Kamikaze, considered by allmusic's Stewart Mason "as brash and invigorating as any of Disorder's earlier releases".
The longest standing member of the band Taf normally assembles other musicians to record albums or go on tour. Steve Robinson died in March 2021 as a homeless person in Berlin, a few days before his 58th birthday.
Chris Neill struggled with addiction for many years before moving to Spain where he now works as a psychologist. He is active in the music scene and participated in the opening and running of a squated music school in the deprived area of Vallecas in Madrid. He now dedicates himself to playing in his new band The Self-Saboteurs.
In recent years, the band have toured extensively in Europe.

Discography

Chart placings shown are from the UK Indie Chart.

Singles and EPs

  • Complete Disorder EP
  • Distortion to Deafness EP
  • "Perdition"-8 songs 12". 1982
  • Mental Disorder EP
  • More Noize EP
  • Pain, Headache, Depression EP
  • We're Still Here
  • Kamikaze
  • Dawn of the Miserables
  • UK V's Japan Noizecore Wars - Disorder/Stagnation split EP. eight songs. Strong Mind Japan 2015.Joint – Disorder/The Babes split 7-inch EP. Disorder and The Babes. Released on Life of Strife Productions, 2021. –

Albums

  • Under the Scalpel Blade
  • Gi Faen I Nasjonaliteten Din Live
  • One Day Son, All This Will Be Yours
  • Violent World
  • Masters of the Glueniverse
  • Senile Punks..
  • Sliced Punx on Meathooks
  • Dawn of the miserables, disorder/vivere merda split lp
  • UK V's Japan Noizecore Wars 2, disorder/stagnation split CD - Strong Mind Japan 2015
  • Human Cargo CD Album, Disorder Records. 2016.
  • Live In Sneek - Cassette Album, Black Konflik Records. 2016.
  • Viva El Squato CD Album - Strong Mind Japan 2018

Reissues and collections

  • Complete Disorder: The Singles 12" EP
  • Under the Scalpel Blade/One Day Son... CD
  • Senile Punks
  • Live in Oslo/Violent World CD
  • The Rest Home for Senile Old Punks Proudly Present... Disorder
  • Driller Killer – The Collection CD
  • The Best of Disorder CD
  • Total Disorder
  • ''Riot City Years 81 – 83''

Compilation appearances

  • Punk and Disorderly LP : "Complete Disorder"
  • Punk and Disorderly vol. 2 LP : "More than Fights
  • UK/DK LP : "Life"
  • Blitz Hits 2LP : "Today's World"
  • I Kill What I Eat CD : "Violent World"
  • We Are Gonna Fight Back Against The Pig Bastards Until We Are Dead CD : ?
  • "Euthanasia #2-The Sticky Solution" CD-Wild Arena Records. Bristol Punk Compilation 2016.

DVDs

;Compilation appearances:
  • Burning Britain: The History of UK Punk 1980-1984 – The DVD Cherry Red: "Life"

Band line-ups

  • 1979 Complete Disorder Stephen Curtis/Steve Allen/Neil Worthington/Nick Peters
  • 1981 Distortion til Deafness Stephen Curtis/Steve Allen/Neil Worthington/Steve Robinson
  • 1982 Perdition Taf, Steve Allen, Chris Neill & Richard Potts
  • 1983 Mental Disorder Chris Neill, Taf, Richard Potts
  • 1984 Under the Scalpel Blade Taf, Steve Allen, Chris Neil & Richard Potts
  • 1985 Taf, Steve Allen, Neill & Glen ?
  • 1986 One Day Son... Taf, Steve Allen & Carl Allsop
  • 1989 Violent World Taf, Steve Allen & Kenneth Eggen
  • 1992 Masters of the Glueniverse Taf, Steve Allen, Rudy Hoykens & Tor Degerstrøm, TK ?
  • 2000–2002 Taf, Goz, Yaga and Chris Wheelie
  • 2002–2007 Taf, Nick Ellis, Jon Springer
  • 2007 Taf, Nick Ellis, Toni/Ben
  • 2008 Taf, Nick Ellis, Ben, Nikos Pappos
  • 2009 Taf, Nick Ellis, Ben
  • 2010 Taf, Ben, William Melrose
  • 2011 Taf, Nick Ellis, John Springer
  • 2013 UK vs Japan Noise Core Wars Taf, Jon Springer, Nick Ellis
  • 2015 UK vs Japan Noise Core Wars II Taf, Jon, Alex Upchuck
  • 2016 Human Cargo Taf, Jon, Alex Upchuck
  • 2017 Live On The Greenline CD Album, Disorder Records. Taf, Carl Allsop, Alex Upchuck, Ted
  • 2018 Viva El Squato Taf, Jon, Alex Upchuck