Pop Will Eat Itself are an English alternative rock band formed in 1986 in Stourbridge in the West Midlands of England with members from Birmingham, Coventry and the Black Country.

[1][2] Graham Crabb describes their sound as "electronic, punk, alternative hip-hop, hybrid music for fucking, fighting & smoking cigars".

Crabb, Mole and Mansell recruited Richard March and changed their band name to Wild and Wandering (known locally as Blind and Blundering because they always performed in an intoxicated state).

The single was sold in a brown paper bag and was made available for sale at Martin Newsagents in Stourbridge High Street as well as from the home of one of the band.

During this time the band was listening to more hip hop (Run DMC, Public Enemy and the Beastie Boys) as well as music from a new emerging movement of sample-heavy dance records (The Justified Ancients of Mu-Mu, MARRS, S'Express and Bomb the Bass).

"Beaver Patrol", a cover of the Wilde Knights song, (suggested to the band by Bobby Gillespie of Primal Scream), caused some controversy for its offensive lyrics but "There Is No Love Between Us Anymore" made the lower reaches of the UK charts and as a result, PWEI were signed to the record label RCA.

Whilst much confusion ensued around the dramatic change of direction, PWEI secured a first by being the first Western independent band to be invited to play the then-Soviet Union.

This track also had political content, serving as a protest against Great Britain's Criminal Justice And Public order Act 1994, which had criminalised rave culture.

[6] The band found some new popularity after signing with Trent Reznor's Nothing Records in the US, and touring with Nine Inch Nails, as well as having their songs used on the PlayStation game Loaded.

The band decided to split in May 1996 (with 12 songs recorded and mixed in a state of near completion), and toured the UK briefly in June 1996 with a final live show at Roskilde.

[2] Townshend also released two solo albums and Mansell wrote film scores, including Requiem for a Dream, π, Doom, The Fountain, The Wrestler, Moon, and Black Swan.

The band released a preview of new material called Sonic Noise Byte on 4 November 2005, as a torrent download for members of their official website pweination.

The remaining band members continued as Vileevils, and released the tracks "Retro Dreaming" and "Street Fightin" for download via the pweination website.

A secret, one-night PWEI reunion was scheduled to happen at the Vileevils show at Stourbridge Rock Cafe on 9 June 2007, but was foiled when Mansell was unable to obtain a visa in time to fly back to the UK.

Vileevils performed their final live date in December 2008 supporting Ned's Atomic Dustbin, before recording an unreleased album, which was cancelled prior to release in 2010.

In July 2011, a new line-up was announced, featuring Graham Crabb (as the only original member), fellow vocalist Mary Byker (Gaye Bykers on Acid, Apollo 440, Pigface), guitarist Tim Muddiman (Gary Numan), drummer Jason Bowld (Pitchshifter, Killing Joke) and bassist Davey Bennett (This Burning Age).

That October the album New Noise Designed by a Sadist was released on Cooking Vinyl, produced by Monti & Rob Holliday (Sulpher, The Prodigy) and was followed by a UK tour.

The band began working on a remix album to complement New Noise Designed by a Sadist, but this project was discontinued in favour of the Watch the Bitch Blow EP.

Over the following years, they continued playing occasional concerts in the UK, with line-ups varying between shows to agree with the availability of the band members.

Seven years after its original release, Anti-Nasty League was made available digitally on the band's official store and major music streaming and download services.