The Damned

Few bands have lasted longer, broken up, and reunited more often—or notched as many firsts—as UK punks The Damned, whose turbulent history may also be part of the reason they’ve been so stylistically experimental. Formed in London, England in the mid-’70s after the breakup of their previous bands, Chris Millar (a.k.a. Rat Scabies), Ray Burns (a.k.a. Captain Sensible), Dave Vanian, and Brian James played their first show as The Damned—opening for the Sex Pistols—in July 1976. Their sinewy, thrilling “New Rose”—the first official UK punk single—hit record stores later that year, and they followed it up with 1977’s Damned Damned Damned, the first UK punk LP. In their first decade, the band explored psychedelic garage (1979’s Machine Gun Etiquette), ambitious prog (1980’s The Black Album), and goth (1985’s Phantasmagoria). Despite numerous lineup changes and holding strong into their fifth decade, The Damned have never rested on their laurels, adding to their legacy with 2018’s hard-hitting Evil Spirits.