DefBlonde Keep the Lancashire Punk Spirit Alive Across Decades of Chaos and Creation
Two punk rock lifers reunite after forty years to deliver raw, inventive, and wildly personal records.
All photos courtesy of DefBlond
For many of us, this punk rock thing has been a lifelong commitment since we were teenagers. My own journey started in the late seventies in a dead-end Lancashire mill town left rotting after the Industrial Revolution. The North of England was not an easy place to come up in as a teen in that era. For many of us, punk rock captured our imaginations and our angst. We were surplus to requirements in “Thatcher’s England” and we knew it. The anger and attitude we felt as a collective were warranted.
My journey has taken me all over the world. It is always heartening to find two fellow punk rock lifers from my era and original area who are still completely absorbed and having a great time with their punk-influenced music and art.
Def Blonde are Mog Sutherland and Bri Slutcher. They first met as 16-year-olds in a late-70s band they formed together called Popeyes Dik. Bri was the frontman, and Mog handled drums. They went their separate ways after PD folded. Mog formed Screeech Rock, which played like the lovechild of The Slits and The Heartbreakers on bad acid. Bri went on to form and play in other bands, most notably the UK Subs for nearly twenty years.
Screeech Rock made noise in the underground squat scene of 1980s London, arriving at the same time I landed there. They ran a collective squat club in a disused fire station where I attended more than a few parties. Promotion was word of mouth. Bands showed up and played without notice. I remember a dayglo maze guiding you from the entry door to the dance floor and a room full of feathers with an upside-down man swinging by his ankles. It became legendary. Some well-known bands would drop in and play. It had the right mix of danger and excitement and even drew a few celebs of the era. Eventually the authorities shut it down.
After a twenty-year absence, Mog and Screeech Rock resurfaced in 2018 when Hawkwind invited them to reform for a festival. The band returned to active status. As luck would have it, the revolving door of musicians brought Bri back into Mog’s orbit from the old Popeyes Dik days. The pandemic halted everything, and Screeech Rock came to an end. After lockdown Bri called Mog to sing on a track he was working on. The song, “Superzero,” was originally intended as a one-off. They worked so well together that one song turned into an album titled Defblonde. As Mog put it, “I am really quite deaf and I am blonde.”
All photos courtesy of DefBlond
They have now released a second album, Defblondos, with Pete Davis, Bri’s old UK Subs colleague, on drums. It is an impressive record.
Album Review: Defblondos
Disco
A thrashy guitar riff with a sharp lyric warning about the seductive pull of the disco on human beings and social dancing.Today
Strong vocal harmonies carrying a lost-love theme over a powerful guitar foundation.Never Let Me Down
A standout bass line and swirling guitar lines merge around a duet delivered with an undercurrent of melancholy.Ladder
The current video. A fast mover that pulls a foot tap out of you whether you mean it or not.Polyester Dress
A little music-hall charm anchored by plinky-plonky piano that feels like a mid-70s UK chart memory.Rock N’ Roll Baby
Glam-leaning chord changes and vocal harmonies support Mog’s reflection on young heartbreak that shapes experience.Everything
Begins with flamenco-style picking before opening into a majestic full-band piece about two misfits finding each other. The 20th Century Fox-style drum ending is excellent.Sun Gone Missing
Opens and closes with anthemic drums. You can feel the sadness under the melody. It is memorable and persistent.Fire
My personal standout. Dynamic, immersive, and emotional. The video imagery elevates it further.Sleep
A familiar late-night emotional struggle. The track builds gradually as guitar lines wrap around the vocals and pull everything toward a final crest.
additional songs that are accessible on YouTube.
For merch, CDs, T-shirts, and the May Day E.P., visit the band’s website.
Too poor or cheap to buy a T-shirt? We get it.
Show your support by joining the In Spite Magazine Spam Team—share this article everywhere, on all the FaceSpaces, TikyToks, Sub-Genius Sub-Reddits, and neighborhood watch groups.