Featuring short, fast-paced hard rock songs and influenced by favourites of the group such as The Clash,[1] the EP provided the musical template for the band of what was to come.
Background
On the synthesis behind the record's creation, lyricist and rhythm guitaristRichey Edwards stated: "We've just got pissed off with seeing so much ugliness about. Everybody knows life is ugly, but it seems to me all bands around today want to do is reflect it".[2]
Recording
New Art Riot was recorded in March 1990 at Workshop Studios in Redditch, Worcestershire, England.[1] It was produced by Robin Wynn Evans of The View, Sam Brown and Dodgy fame. When Edwards asked for the sound of a guitar smashing to be added to one of the tracks, Evans replied "smash your guitar then!" The dismembered neck of the guitar was then signed by the band and Evans, and was used as a doorstop at his Perthshire T Pot studio.[3]
Release and reception
New Art Riot was released on 25 June 1990 as a limited edition 12" vinyl of 3,000 copies by record label Damaged Goods.[1] The release led to a reasonable amount of media coverage on the band.[4]Melody Maker qualified the EP as Single of the Week.[1]
The promotional video for the song "Strip It Down" features the band wearing spray-stencil slogans on their shirts, Bradfield sporting bleached blonde hair, performing in front of a psychedelic fractal backdrop.[3]
New Art Riot has since been repressed and reissued on CD and vinyl, as well as being made available digitally.
A live version of "New Art Riot" (titled "New Art Riot in E Minor") featured as a B-side on the band's later single "Faster".
