Vampire Lovers

Genre:Punk Rock,Horror Punk



The Vampire Lovers, also known as Vampyre Lovers or Vampire Lovers were a Brisbane punk rock group formed in 1982 in Queensland, Australia. Music historian, Ian McFarlane, stated that Brisbane produced "some of the most anarchistic bands of the Australian punk rock era" and that it was a city nationally renowned for its ultra conservatism. Original members were Axle "Axe Babe" Conrad on vocals, Shane Cooke on bass guitar, Matt "Nasty" Le Noury on guitar and Dave Chamberlain on drums. They also included guitarists, Brendan Kibble, Jason Shepherd, and drummer Ziggy Staten.
According to British fanzine journalist, Hugh Gulland, the band was "Firmly rooted in The Damned / Misfits - horror punk axis" and suggested that the group’s horror punk appeal extended to fans of garish apparel like "pink leopardskin".
The band existed from 1982 to 1984 and reformed in 1988 to disband in 1990. Generally recognized in Australia by the alternative crowd for their first single from 1983 called "Buzzsaw Popstar", the band eventually released one mini L.P. called Acid Commandos from Planet Fuzz, which appeared in 1991, one year after the band broke up. Both Le Noury and Cooke were in Hitmen D.T.K. in Sydney during the early 1990’s and recorded on some of the group’s later releases. A retrospective compilation called 13 Tasteless Masterpieces was released by United Kingdom indie label, Magic Monster in 2004.



Originally formed after the demise of Brisbane punk rock group, The Flying Squad in 1981, by Brendan Kibble (Flying Squad singer/guitarist) and Axle "Axe Babe" Conrad (vocals), they enlisted other local musicians Matt "Nasty" Le Noury (guitar) and Shane Cooke (Flying Squad bass guitarist).In 1982, Dave Chamberlain joined on drums to complete the original line up, but Kibble quit shortly after.

The Vampire Lovers named themselves after the 1970 lesbian Hammer Horror movie, The Vampire Lovers. Their fixation for unusual or camp horror movies, high powered motorcycles, illicit drugs and deviancy is attested by lyrical themes in their original songs, generally written by Conrad, Cooke and Le Noury (Nasty) such as "Heavy Planet Fuzz", "Death Dwarf", "Gothic School of Twilight Punk" and "Second Generation Psychopath". A review of the band branded them as "Four young, trash movie-obsessed reprobates with a taste for weed and strong acid."Axle, vocalist for the band, explained that the band were inspired by "mind altering substances and movies like Pink Flamingos, Eraserhead and Texas Chainsaw Massacre."
After many delays, the group released their first EP, Buzzsaw Popstar, on the Sundown label in 1983."Buzzsaw Popstar", the lead track, received extensive airplay on 4ZzZ, a Brisbane community radio station. This enabled the band to achieve cult notoriety in their home state of Queensland and has since moved Rob Younger (from Radio Birdman) to declare it "a masterpiece".