Birmingham, UK · post-punk · art-punk

Au Pairs

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Angular, politically pointed post-punk built on the tension between two vocalists and a very tight rhythm section — Birmingham's answer to Gang of Four, sharper on gender politics than anyone.

Au Pairs formed in Birmingham in 1979, among the first wave of British post-punk. The band was fronted by guitarist and singer Lesley Woods, whose vocals traded off against those of guitarist Paul Foad, over a rhythm section of Jane Munro on bass and Pete Hammond on drums. Woods and Foad had met at a bus stop, started out playing as a folk duo, then recruited Hammond, a school friend of Foad's, and Munro, who had just picked up bass.

The band played gigs for the Birmingham Rock Against Racism group and used the money to self-release their first single, "You," in 1979 on their own label, 021 Records, which later put out the debut single by Musical Youth. John Peel played the single on BBC Radio 1 and invited the group onto his show.

Their music used clipped, angular guitar and a taut funk-inflected pulse, and their lyrics dealt directly with gender, sexuality, work and politics, including material on Northern Ireland and on the mundane inequities of relationships. Their debut album, Playing with a Different Sex, reached number 33 on the UK albums chart and topped the independent chart, its songs "It's Obvious" and "We're So Cool" turning a dry, sarcastic eye on gender relations.

A second album, Sense and Sensuality, brought in more jazz, soul and disco but landed less well with critics. Munro left six months before the split, replaced by Nick O'Connor on bass and keyboards, with the group further filled out by Jayne Morris, Graeme Hamilton and Cara Tivey.

The group broke up in 1983, before a planned third album with producer Steve Lillywhite, with Woods later citing the hostility and violence directed at women playing music as a factor. She went on to work as a lawyer; Foad and Hammond formed the band End of Chat. Au Pairs remain a reference point for feminist post-punk.

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post-punkart-punk