Throbbing Gristle: An Endless Discontent

Drawing on archives and live performances, this book traces the impressions and reverberations of UK punk band Throbbing Gristle. This book situates the British band Throbbing Gristle as both a lens and critical tool for England during the punk years and the Winter of Discontent. Using detailed archival research and testimony from key performances, it plots the impact and affective reach of the band. In 1976 the British band Throbbing Gristle emerged from the radical arts collective COUM Transmissions through core members Genesis P-Orridge and Cosey Fanni Tutti, joined by Hipgnosis photographer Peter Christopherson and electronics specialist Chris Carter. Though having performed previously in more low-key arts environments, their major launch coincided with the COUM retrospective exhibition Prostitution at London’s ICA gallery, showcasing and contextualising an array of challenging objects from COUM’s various actions in performance art and pornography. In a deliberately curated strate