Grebo! The Loud & Lousy Story Of Gaye Bykers On Acid And Crazyhead

★★★ Rich Deakin HEADPRESS. £12.95

The messy life and times of Leicester’s scuzzy alt-rock outsiders.

‘Grebo’ was a catch-all term applied by the music press to those late-’80s/ early-’90s groups fusing punk, metal, psychedelia and industrial sounds – “Gaye Bykers On Acid and their grubby ilk,” according to NME’s

Stuart Maconie. This deep dive into the tale of Midlands standard-bearers GBOA and Crazyhead is rich in pathos, (sometimes unintentional) humour and an awful lot of detail. Every line-up change, side project and pivotal moment is explored, including the time Bykers acolyte and MOJO Art Editor Mark ‘Wag’ Wagstaff was shot in the groin with a starting pistol in Burton-On-Trent. The bands’ self-deprecating wit and independence was part of their charm, but resulted in self-sabotage, with GBOA frittering away Virgin’s money on an ill-fated movie to accompany their debut album,

Drill Your Own Hole. Although Crazyhead played Russia

and Namibia in 1991, world domination was never on the cards. But Deakin’s account suggests it was great fun while it lasted.

Mark Blake