Bio
Teenage tearaways Violent Playground exploded on to the Ipswich punk scene at the dog-end of the 1990s, as an excuse for Kate Reed and Louise Brett to skip school and squander their future for the bright lights of Blank Generation punk nights at the Steamboat Tavern. Joined by Sam Hornsey on bass and Dan Miner on drums, they were snapped up by Backwater Records for their debut EP in 2001. The Great Die Young was a beautiful lo-fi shambles that betrayed musical ambitions way beyond their ability to play their instruments.
Dominic Cattermole replaced Dan to complete the band’s most notorious incarnation and they set about terrorizing the elder statesmen of punk (inc. UK Subs, 999 and Red Flag ’77) with anarchic live shows across the country. With the release of a second, self-titled EP on antigen records in 2002, the band cemented their local reputation with a confident progression into post-punk, before splitting suddenly without explanation in 2003.
Bullied into re-forming for a birthday party in November 2018, the band members enjoyed themselves so much, they decided to regroup for some more shows and to release an album. Violent Years compiles material from a 2018 rehearsal recording with the best of their early work, thanks to the kind cooperation and efforts of Steve Mann from Backwater Records.
Kate now drums with The International Debt, Louise sings with Strike the Sun and Dom has recently completed a tenure as drummer with These Are End Times. Sam’s musical activities are best left undocumented.
