UV POP

UV Pøp, also known as Ultra Violent Pop, emerged as a post-punk outfit from England’s South Yorkshire area when John K. White assembled the project in the early 1980s. White had previously supplied instrumental support to the struggling vocal ensemble the I Scream Boys; once that venture stalled, he pivoted to UV Pøp as a solo endeavor. Its inaugural release, a single overseen by Cabaret Voltaire’s members, immediately generated airplay and live opportunities. Performing alone over backing tapes, White supported Nico, In the Nursery, and the still-obscure Pulp and Culture Club. The same single received repeated plays on John Peel’s program, widening its reach. In 1983 the band issued its debut album No Songs Tomorrow, whose stark post-punk and pre-goth textures alongside nascent found-sound techniques earned strong reviews and rapid sell-outs. By the time Bendy Baby Man appeared in 1986, UV Pøp had grown into a conventional lineup whose darkly infectious track “Serious” found underground traction. After that release the group fell quiet for decades, though White continued recording and viewed the lull as an extended pause rather than a dissolution. During those years original pressings of No Songs Tomorrow attained cult status among post-punk collectors, commanding steep prices on the global vinyl market. Sacred Bones, the Brooklyn imprint, reissued both the debut single and No Songs Tomorrow in 2011; the following year the label arranged the reactivated band’s first performances in New York City.