The band with a license to Krill

Modern-day American stadium stars Green Day supported them in Belgium, they packed 5,000 into a former nuclear bunker in Czechoslovakia and had three singles in the top five of the Japanese alternative charts at the same time VEGETABLES everywhere can sleep easy after next Saturday.

On February 10 Lancaster speed punks Krill will cease to be - and nothing will ever be quite the same again. The band formerly known as Dr and the Crippens will leave quite a hole in the local music scene when they hang up their instruments following a farewell gig at the Yorkshire House next weekend. And considerably fewer holes in unsuspecting cabbages. Born into a mid-1980s guitar scene where glumsters The Smiths ruled supreme, Dr and the Crippens arrived like naughty schoolboys let loose in a chemistry lab. Larking about, making huge amounts of noise and blowing things up was much more fun than wearing bad cardigans. But despite (because of?) their destructive tendencies they quickly found an ally in Radio 1 legend John Peel, who exposed an incredulous public to the joys of tracks like 'Pneumatic Geek', 'Ode to a Slug' and A Controlled Experiment to Determine the Psychological     Effects    of     Breakfast Television on Small Rodents', which, at precisely one second long, took far longer to say than listen to. They became darlings of the British thrash punk scene, were courted by all the major music papers and toured almost non- stop, leaving trails of detonated vegetables all over Europe. Modern-day American stadium stars Green Day supported them in Belgium, they packed 5,OW into a former nuclear bunker in Czechoslovakia and had three singles in the top five of the Japanese alternative charts at the same time. By the late 80s if Napalm Death were the kings of the Britcore movement and Extreme Noise Terror were the political wing, then Dr and the Crippens were the clown princes of the lunatic fringe. American skate punks had The Stupids, we had the Crippens - a sort of Spinal Tap for the genre, daft as brushes with their amps turned up to 11. Vocalist Nick explains about those vegetable moments. "I saw this band at the Sugar House who blew up a cabbage as part of a benefit gig - something to do with Thatcher - and thought that would look good in our act." Working backstage at a theatre had taught him the basic pyrotechnical skills, and soon exploding vegetables were an integral part of the Crippens experience. "At first it was something to hide behind because the music was so bad" says guitarist Tom. "But we found it was a good way to connect with everyone in the room at the same time - you can't ignore a band who have just exploded a cabbage and bits of it are floating in your pint," adds Nick thoughtfully Outrageous costumes, also initially raided from theatre stock, developed the larger than life stage show and members acquired suitably appropriate re-names.    The Crippens/Krill hall of fame therefore includes such luminaries as Wayne Crippenski, BB Kablamo, Max Von Reinhardt and Admiral Furtwanger. A record deal with the Bristol-based Manic Ears record label spawned a debut album, 'Fired from the Circus', recorded in a studio in the middle of a scrap yard while they shared floor space in a nearby squat with label mates Chaos UK. Unfortunately the resulting recording didn't capture the power or energy of the live shows. "It sounded dreadful, like a wasp stuck in a jam jar," remembers Tom. But despite the band's own reservations, the album stung (ho ho) John Peel into action. Peel loved it and never missed an opportunity to play it or plug it on his cult late night show on Radio 1, eventually inviting the Crippens along to do two sessions, one of which was recorded in a BBC studio used by Bing Crosby. HE tours of Europe that followed featured numerous life-on-the-road tales of hard drinking and hard partying - and the night they became accidental smugglers in the former East Germany. Trying to beat the midnight curfew and get back to West Berlin following a show in the east of the then still divided city, the band were grateful when two young East Germans offered to show them the way back to Checkpoint Charlie. When they reached the checkpoint their guides suddenly hid underneath the band's equipment in the back of the van. Unable to turn back, they crossed their fingers and pressed on. Luckily, the border guards weren't suspicious of a van full of punks from Lancaster covered, in charred cabbage remains and waved them through. Unfortunately for Dr and the Crippens, even though their reputation was growing and they had a strong and loyal following both at home and abroad, their record label were unable to keep pace. "The last time we toured abroad was in 1995, but we hadn't had a record out since 1992 and they didn't send any records out to the countries we were playing in," explains TOM. After the best part of a decade in Dr and the Crippens, original bassist Wayne left the band and along with his replacement came a new band name, Mass Hypnosis, which was then changed to Krill "so it would fit on a t- shirt better". Krill released a CD, 'Beef on the Bone' and toured Britain, keeping alive the Crippens' fabled live reputation, especially with their legendary Valentine's and Halloween shows in Lancaster. A new drummer, MC Hammered, was recruited to replace BB Kablamo, who got responsible with the birth of his first child, but Tom admits that the touring was becoming a bit of a grind, what with so much equipment, effects and vegetable supplies to cart around. Now they've decided to call it a day. Next weekend's gig will feature a special Dr and the Crippens set - with special guest appearances from original members - followed by contemporary Lancaster stars Angelica, with Krill having the last hurrah to end the night. Tom says continuing interest in Japan means they are planning to re-mix a Crippens album for export, and they haven't ruled out a few shows in the Land of the Rising Sun if the new release takes off. But as a regular band, Saturday will be the end of the line, and therefore the end of an era. Nick says: "We still want to play and there may be other bands, it would be nice to go off and collaborate with other people," before adding: "so we can spread the virus." Time may have taken its toll on Lancaster's vegetable plot terrorists, but it hasn't dulled their sense of purpose.

& Dr and the Crippens, Angelica and Krill play in The Lounge, upstairs at the Yorkshire House, Lancaster, on Saturday, February 10. Admission is £1.