[2] The band pioneered the avant noise scene of Big Black and Sonic Youth for several years with their "Spike Milligan's Tape Recorder" single and Death To Trad Rock EP and their debut Gift Of Life album.

[1] The band relocated to Manchester in 1983, and "Spike Milligan's Tape Recorder" was issued on the Criminal Damage label,[2] which met with a positive critical response but distribution problems limited its impact.

Critchley subsequently left, with Robb and Tilton taking over to share the vocals, Martin Kelly moving to keyboards with a Wasp synthesiser and a 13-year-old called "Coofy Sid" (Coulthart) joining on drums.

They were awarded single of the week in all four music papers,[citation needed] and Spike Milligan reached number six in the John Peel Festive Fifty.

[4] In January 1985, The Membranes appeared on The Tube and released the Death To Trad Rock EP which reached number 8 in the UK Indie Chart and saw the band on the front cover of Sounds.

In February 2016, the band released a joint single with the Sireen choir from Estonia called "The Universe Explodes Into A Billion Photons Of Pure White Light" which was recorded at their second session for Marc Riley on his 6 Music show.

In November 2016[citation needed] the band released a remix of the whole of their Dark Matter/Dark Energy album under the name Inner Space/Outer Space, with mixes from Manic Street Preachers, Alexander hacked from Einsturzende Neubauten, Therapy, Killing Joke, Phillip Boa, Reverend And The Makers, Keith Levene, The Pop Group, Godflesh, Clint Mansell, Cosey Fanni Tutti and many others.

The album is built around the theme of nature and features a 20 piece choir and contributions from Chris Packham Shirley Collins Jordan and Kirk Brandon UK Independent Chart positions in brackets.