rudimentary

Rudimentary Peni

Rudimentary Peni is a British Anarcho-punk band. Culling influence from many different musical genres, as well as other aspects of culture, they are known as one of the most diverse and original groups to emerge from the punk scene. Although many of their releases spoke to the sentiment of many anarcho-punks, this was only keeping with a generallly misanthropic viewpoint the band embraced. The band's content included subject matter ranging from Lovecraft to daily annoyances, and was never limited to purely apocalyptic or social issues.

Lineup

Nick Blinko - guitar, vocals, artwork, lyrics
Grant Matthews - bass guitar, lyrics
Jon Grenville - drums

History

Rudimentary Peni emerged from the British anarcho-punk scene in the early eighties as one of the most novel and recognizable acts of the era. Lead singer/guitarist Nick Blinko is notorious for his witty macabre lyrics and dark pen-and-ink artwork, prominently featured on all of Rudimentary Peni's albums. Blinko is also rumored to have written the band's Pope Adrian 37th Psychristiatric album whilst resident in a psychiatric hospital. Bassist Grant Matthews has also written a number of songs for the band, though his lyrics primarily focus on sociopolitical themes. Very few photos exist of the band, as their albums feature Blinko's drawings instead, but Pushead published a few in an early edition of his magazine.

In Maximum RocknRoll, issue #237 (February 2003), Matthews explains how he came up with the name of the band: "When I was at school studying biology, we were told that in the fetal stage the clitoris is a rudimentary penis."

The band had early connections with Crass.

The band stopped performing in the 1980s after bassist Grant Matthews was diagnosed with cancer. They continue to record and release material today, though they rarely give interviews.

Nick Blinko has also released a semi-autobiographical novel called The Primal Screamer, which is currently out of print. Blinko has also become increasingly popular in the Outsider Art scene. Though Blinko continues to release new music, he was recently admitted to a psychiatric hospital somewhere in London. The group released the "No More Pain" EP in June of 2008. Nick Blinko has also finished a new untitled novel, due out sometime in the near future.

Discography

Chart placings shown are from the UK Indie Chart.

Rudimentary Peni EP, Outer Himalayan, 1981
Farce EP, Crass Records, 1981 (#7)
Catastrophe live LP, Rotten, 1982
Death Church LP, Corpus Christi, 1983 (#3)
The EPs of RP CD (collects Rudimentary Peni and Farce EPs), Corpus Christi, 1986
Cacophony LP, Outer Himalayan, 1989
Pope Adrian 37th Psychristiatric LP, Outer Himalayan, 1995
Echoes of Anguish EP, Outer Himalayan, 1998
The Underclass EP, Outer Himalayan, 2000
Archaic EP, Outer Himalayan, 2004
No More Pain EP, Southern, 2008