I was hugely into this band when I was at high school. Atari Teenage Riot were formed in Berlin in 1992, consisting of techno genious Alec Empire, riot grrl Hanin Elias, and MC Carl Crack. Later, Japanese noise artist Nic Endo joined the line-up. Their musical sound stole from punk, metal, industrial, rave and breakbeat, and a their philosophy was based on situationalism and ‘77 punk.

Their liner notes read like manifestos. Amid the collapse of communism and the false promises of capitalism, neo-Nazism is on the rise, taking over the Berlin club scene. Ravers are reactionary because after the rave they go back to work on Monday; as situationists we reject making divisions between work time and play time. Ecstasy is bad because it makes you too nice; speed is what you need is what you feel is what you’re livin’ for! Berlin 1992 is like London 1977; the ravers are apolitical hippies, and must be defeated.

So, a new form of punk was required, and that was Digital Hardcore. After founding Digital Hardcore Recordings the name became a genre, and dozens of groups sprung up who were not necessarily associated with the label. The 1995 compilation Harder Than The Rest is an excellent introduction to the genre and blew my mind when I first heard it. The legacy of the label lives by forming a musical blueprint for groups such as the Prodigy, and inspiring breakbeat and ‘drill n bass’ artists to take things to the extreme.

Living fast usually entails dying young. Drugs were a major part of the group and their shows were often accompanied by violence. When a bouncer in Brazil tried to stop Hanin stage diving by grabbing her between the legs, she smashed her microphone on his head and hospitalised him. The band infamously played at the 1st May 1999 anti-NATO demonstration in Berlin, which ended in a riot and the arrest of the band. Rage Against the Machine would later be inspired to play at the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles.

By the end of 1999 the band was falling apart, due to drugs and exhaustion. Their final show was supporting Nine Inch Nails at the Brixton Academy; the show consisted of 27 minutes of pure noise. This was later released as a live album; NME described it as “not so much a performance as an attempt to punch a gaping hole in the space-time continuum and rip its throbbing purple guts out with a giant sonic pitchfork”, and gave it 11 out of 10. The band split up after they left the stage. Carl Crack went into psychosis, overdosed and died. Hanin fell out with Alec Empire; Alec still writes and performs solo material with Nic Endo.

Quite a story, then. If your ears are up to it, have a listen to these. These two are from their last album, when they had enough money to do decent videos.

An earlier single…

…and their last, featuring Tom Morello on guitar.

Enjoy!