Rhythm Damage

Rhythm Damage
Rhythm Damage were a Cyber Punk trio who's techno screams could be heard from 1989 to 1992.

From Tamworth in Staffordshire,The Vulgar Squad (as they sometimes liked to be known) were the combined talents of Rikk Quay, lead vocals, synths, samplers and programming, Kriss Wain, backing vocals, synths, samplers and programming and Jon Damage, backing vocals and synths.

They blasted onto the local Tamworth music scene which at the time was densely populated with bands, aided by there being no shortage of local venues to play in. Sometimes there could be up to five venues hosting separate gigs in one evening. Not bad for a small market town which only had a population of 60,000. From this thriving cauldron of local talent inevitably some rose to the surface, showing real talent and ability. From those, some were exceptional. This is true of Rhythm Damage. A self branded Cyber-Punk band which unashamedly fused intelligently constructed Techno, outrageously offensive in-yer-face Punk, screaming Rap, and charismatic unpredictability (nobody knew what was going to happen next...least of all the band). However, though the mayhem lay a set that would shake you to your very core and satisfy parts of you that you didn't know could be satisfied. As a result, a large and loyal audience soon emerged. Not content with only playing locally, the band would frequently pop up at venues all over the country and their reputation inevitably spread.

Their studio work, produced by themselves and Paul Spear (formally of Dexys Midnight Runners), was inventive and brilliantly executed. They produced a body of work which, even in the short time they were together, become as good as anything else that was being released in this genre. In this writers opinion, better than most.

I was with them the night that Malfunction was played on The John Peel Show. In a corner of The Tavern in the Town (where you would always find at least one of them). We were all huddled round a personal stereo with a radio, sharing the headphones, very drunk, absolutely elated. The band were all really happy, but I sensed that this was a particularly emotional experience for Rikk. After it had finished, he went to the kitchen behind the bar and phoned BBC Radio 1, explained that his band had just been played and asked whether he could be put through to speak to John Peel himself. Amazingly they did. Rikk thanked him, a lot, and then pointed out how funny it was that he'd referred to the band as "the sound of young Tamworth", being 37 at the time.

Sadly, it all came to an abrupt end not many months after. Leaving behind a collection of demo's, a 12" e.p, video's and countless gigs that will live long in the memory.

'''Happily, 26 years later, the master tapes have been dusted, baked and re-mastered to produce an album of stunning quality on vinyl, CD and download. Available from bandcamp.com, January 2018, entitled 'Damaged Beyond Repair''' '.

You can also find them on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbdVDLZFsFkuv1A1W3fRDvw