London, UK · anarcho-punk · post-punk

Rubella Ballet

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UV-painted anarcho-punk that insisted the movement didn't have to dress entirely in black — day-glo defiance since the Crass days.

Rubella Ballet formed in London in 1979 within the circle around Crass and Poison Girls, borrowing Poison Girls' own equipment to write their earliest songs. Drummer Sid Truelove later also played with Flux of Pink Indians, while founding members Pete Fender and Gem Stone were the son and daughter of Poison Girls singer Vi Subversa. Zillah Minx joined soon after as vocalist, replacing early singers Annie Anxiety and Womble.

The band's first appearance came onstage at a Crass and Poison Girls show, and their first proper booking, a benefit for London's Theatre Royal, ended in a riot. They played constantly through the squats and benefit gigs of the early scene, often depending on audience members for a place to sleep afterwards, and toured widely alongside both Crass and Poison Girls.

Musically Rubella Ballet sat at the lighter, more melodic edge of anarcho-punk, with a poppy surge some reviewers likened to punk thrash crossed with funk. Visually they set themselves apart with fluorescent, UV-lit dayglo clothing against a scene that dressed almost entirely in black, a look that became as much a signature as the songs themselves.

Early releases included the cassette Ballet Bag (1981) and the EP Ballet Dance (1982), both on Poison Girls' XNTRIX label after turning down a release on Crass's own imprint. The single "42f" led to two John Peel sessions, and a 1984 tour of Italy went wrong: given only one-way tickets and left unpaid, the band travelled home by train.

The debut album At Last It's Playtime followed in 1985, then If... in 1986 and At the End of the Rainbow in 1990, before the band split in 1991. They reformed in 2000, with Zillah Minx and Sid Truelove remaining the constant presence, and a retrospective compilation, Anarchy in the U.V., later gathered together the first half of their career.

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anarcho-punkpost-punk