No Defences

     In 1980, founding member and bass player Richard(also known as Dik) started the band Toxic with two other friends. They only recorded one demo and had one track appearing in Bullshit Detector 2. Soon after, the band became a part of the South London squat scene of the early 80's. No Defences became very close with several bands including Chumbawamba, Slave Dance(their drummer drummed for this band too), D&V, Annie Anxiety, Crass, and Reality Control. Toxic then changed their name to No Defences.

     Richard stated this about the name, "Never choose a name by committee! That's what we did and we never were really happy with it. It was supposed to be about not having defenses around yourself to others, rather than being a slightly bland anti-nuclear name, which it always sounded like, In some ways I almost preferred our old name of Toxic even though we dumped it as it seemed to 'spikey top/glue-sniffing punk."

     No Defences only played one tour around the UK and it was with Chumbawamba. They had an interesting, experimental and creepy style of playing. They had some very long songs(one was twenty minutes long called Why wait?).

     In 1984, Crass asked the band to record material for an album on Crass Records. Five tracks were recorded, but financial difficulties and a long production time kept the album from ever getting recorded, thus it was lost. By the time the record would had come out, No Defences would had split(differences in opinion and a feeling that the band was getting nowhere with what they were doing). The band was featured on Bullshit Detector thee with the song "Work to Consume" but by the end of 1984, No Defences no longer existed.

"Tradition of Slaughter"


The peeling skin he drags behind him
They groan and cry for help
But there is nothing I can do
These pallid ghosts with faces like masks
Walk slowly past me towards the stream
They're all crouching at the water's edge
Trying to quench a never-ending thirst
Condemned by a tradition of slaughter to die


Soon to come Downloads:

Bullshit Detector 2 track-Tradition of Slaughter(1982)
http://www.box.net/shared/ev6dh05gksdzv2gu376v
Practice tape
http://www.box.net/shared/bqkeh8xhgs00jaks983b
Unreleased L.P. 1984
http://www.box.net/shared/b77b0bryinoliioda293
Bullshit Detector 3 track-Work to Consume(1983)
http://www.box.net/shared/5p4fl7vpvcjr7qepg1sl
Live Luton Library Theatre 30/5/85(Crystal clear quality)
http://www.box.net/shared/49magtu8jdqoon9pf49y
Live compilation tracks from the 'Shine on" compilation(new)
http://www.box.net/shared/yeztt7kctdeo1yooyrfg