Founder members of Stourbridge band Pop Will Eat Itself celebrate 40th anniversary with new PWEI.40 project

Former members of influential Stourbridge indie band Pop Will Eat Itself (PWEI) are celebrating 40 years in the music business with a series of reimaginings of their legendary tracks.

The Poppies, as they were known, enjoyed chart stardom in the 1990s with a series of hits - the most famous of which was their top 10 single ‘Get the Girl! Kill the Baddies!’ - which made it to number nine on the Official Singles Chart in 1993.

To celebrate their milestone anniversary, founder members Graham Crabb and Adam Mole have been working together under the project name PWEI.40 on a reimagining of their biggest hit which is being released today (Wednesday July 22).

Adam told the Express & Star the new number, renamed Ruff Justice which is what the song was always known as in the US, is “possibly the most manic, crazy sounding version of any PWEI track we’ve ever done as PWEI.40”.

A brand new video to accompany the new release has also been created - produced by Stourbridge film-maker James Anderson Brown.

Filmed at Laser Quest in Amblecote, Stourbridge, on July 16 and 20 and set for release in the coming days, the video features Stourbridge multi-media artist Cal who painted a mural in honour of PWEI on the side of Direct2Print in Foster Street last year, along with artwork honouring fellow Stourbridge chart stars Ned’s Atomic Dustbin and The Wonder Stuff.

Enjoying his starring role in the music video, he praised the PWEI.40 duo as “great guys to work with”. He added: “It's been a real pleasure to work with PWEI.40 and a direction I would like to take my art in. As a multi-media artist it's been great to use all my skills on one project. PWEI.40 is a thought-provoking new approach to the conventional norms of music. It's a grebo punk mash-up of everything.”

He said his appearance started out as just a small part but added: “The role just got bigger and bigger and now I’m the main character.”

The video is expected to be ready for release in a matter of days and Stourbridge-born Adam, who lives in Brierley Hill these days, said: “We’re hoping it’s going to be really good.”

Robert Brookes, owner of Laser Quest, said it was a fitting location for the new music video to have been shot as PWEI songs among favourites blasted out at the activity centre at the bottom of Collis Street back in the 1990s. He said he “jumped at the chance” to host some of the band members and their latest project and he also praised the graffiti artwork created by Cal as part of the shoot - adding: “I think we’re going to leave it up.”

Other hits by PWEI are also set to be recreated and reimagined as part of the PWEI.40 project to mark 40 years since the band exploded onto the music scene with their unique brand of rock/pop.

Graham and Adam have been working on the project with longtime visual collaborators The Designers Republic, who created PWEI’s artwork, signalling a renewed creative partnership between the two influential underground forces.

A recreation of 1000 x No from the band’s 1990 Cure for Sanity album was released in May to mark the 40th anniversary of the band’s first live show at The Mere, in Norton, Stourbridge, created in collaboration with Stephen ‘Mal’ Mallinder from Cabaret Voltaire.

It will be followed up by Ruff Justice - a re-energised version of Get the Girl! Kill the Baddies! from PWEI’s 1992 album The Looks or the Lifestyle - created in collaboration with Clams Baker from Warmduscher.

The releases come ahead of a mini tour for the PWEI.40 duo who will be performing at Shiiine at Minehead, Somerset, on November 13, at London Electrowerkz on November 26, at Sheffield Network 2 on November 27 and in the place where it all began - Stourbridge - on December 5, at Stourbridge Town Hall, with a special guest act tipped to support.

The new tracks will also feature on a new album, provisionally entitled PWEI.40, which is set for release on vinyl and streaming services later this year or early 2027 - by Republic of Music (ROM).

Adam said it was “ridiculous” to think the band has been around for 40 years but good that everyone has done well - with drummer Fuzz Townshend having carved out a successful TV presenting career and lead singer Clint Mansell having become a top Hollywood film score composer. Meanwhile, bass player Richard March - who went on to found Bentley Rhythm Ace - recently opened a new analogue recording studio at RPM Audio in Bearwood - which has become one of the UK’s foremost vintage, retro, and classic audio home listening equipment dealers.

Tickets for the Stourbridge PWEI.40 gig are available on the Dudley Borough Halls website https://boroughhalls.co.uk/ and are expected to sell out.