| Punishment of Luxury | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Newcastle, England |
| Genres | post punk |
| Years active | 1976–1984, 1989, 2007–present |
| Labels | Small Wonder, United Artists, Liberty, Red Rhino |
| Members | |
| Brian Bond Neville Luxury Steve Sekrit Jimi Giro |
|
| Past members | |
| Red Helmet Les Denham Tim Magenta Rab Aitch Eddie Hall Tony Wright |
|
Punishment of Luxury, also known as Punilux, are a four-man post-punk band from Newcastle, England, who were active in the late 1970s and early 1980s.[1] They released an album Laughing Academy on United Artists, and another on Red Rhino Records. They reformed in the late 1980s and again in 2007.
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From a background working in left-wing English fringe theatre groups, Punishment Of Luxury were a four-man post-punk band formed in December 1976 in Newcastle.[2] The band consisted initially of Brian Bond (born Brian Rapkin - vocals), Neville Luxury (born Neville Atkinson - guitar, vocals), Red Helmet (guitar, vocals), Jimi Giro (bass guitar, vocals), and "Liquid" Les Denham (drums).[2][3] They released a single, "Puppet Life" on the Small Wonder label in July 1978.[2] In 1979 they signed to United Artists and released the singles "Engine Of Excess" and "Secrets", and the album Laughing Academy.[2] 1980 saw the release of the single "Laughing Academy". An extensive European tour followed and United Artists sent the band into the studio to record another album, a concept album to be called Gigantic Days. However while the recording was still going on, United Artists were taken over by EMI, who dropped the band.
Neville, Bond, and Giro recruited guitarists Steve Sekrit (born Steven Robson) and Tim Magenta to a new lineup, now going by the name Punilux.[2] They released a further album on the Red Rhino label, 7 in 1983, with Magenta replaced by Rab Aitch, before Neville Luxury went solo, releasing the mini-album Feels Like Dancing Wartime in 1984.[2] The album Gigantic Days was finally released, on CD, in 1998 by Overground Records.[2]
The band took their name from an 1891 painting by Giovanni Segantini in the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool.
In 2007 they reunited and played a few songs for the basist Jimi Giro's 50th birthday party. A little more than a year later they landed a gig at a small pub in Gateshead, in the north-east of England called The Three Tuns. The gig was considered a success and was written about in The Guardian newspaper.[4] The band are planning on more gigs in the future and possibly introducing more new material, of which a taster was given in the form of one song called Fracture at the Three Tuns. On June 12, 2009 they played at the Luminaire in Kilburn, North London.