Southern Death Cult

Bradford

Southern Death Cult formed in Bradford in 1981, growing out of an earlier band, Violation, which Barry Jepson and the drummer Haq Nawaz Aki Qureshi (Aki Nawaz) had played in from early 1979, with the guitarist Mick Iles. Thirteen four-track demos were recorded in Bradford on January 3 and 4, 1981. The new line-up was Ian Astbury on vocals, David Buzz Burrows (also spelled Burroughs) on guitar, Jepson on bass and Qureshi on drums; some sources swap the guitar and bass. Astbury sang under the surname Lindsay, his mother's maiden name, according to Kill Your Pet Puppy. The name is an old term for the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex mound-building culture, and was also read as a comment on the English North-South divide.

The first show was on October 29, 1981 at the Queen's Hall in Bradford, and by their fifth concert they reportedly drew about 2,000. They supported Theatre of Hate and Bauhaus, and toured with Bauhaus in January 1983. A John Peel session was recorded on May 21, 1982 at Maida Vale and broadcast on June 10, and a David Jensen session on January 20, 1983. The single "Moya" with "Fatman" came out on Situation Two (SIT 19) in late 1982, on November 15 by Deezer and in December by Kill Your Pet Puppy, and entered the UK indie chart at number one. Situation Two had been founded in 1981 by Peter Kent as an offshoot of Beggars Banquet.

After the split

Astbury ended the band on February 26, 1983 after a Manchester show; Kill Your Pet Puppy says out of frustration with positive press coverage. A compilation, The Southern Death Cult (Beggars Banquet, BEGA 46, 1983), gathered single tracks, session recordings and live material from Rafters in Manchester on December 13, 1982. Astbury and Billy Duffy formed Death Cult in April 1983, renamed The Cult in January 1984. The remaining three formed Getting the Fear, with one single on RCA, while Qureshi later formed Fun-Da-Mental and founded Nation Records. In 2023 Astbury and Duffy revived Death Cult, with "Moya" as the first encore at the Ace Hotel in Los Angeles on October 23 and a 13-date UK tour from Belfast on November 6.