Attrition, whose early work showed a similarity to other experimental and industrial artists of the time, were set slightly apart from their contemporaries by the combination of punk aesthetics and EBM-styled beats but also the inclusion of ethereal and classical touches that permeate nearly all of their repertoire. After initial releases which moved from eerily constructed ambience into standard dancefloor electro sounds, the band soon developed their distinctive texture, based on haunting synthesizer washes, strong beats, fretless bass backing, and Martin Bowes's deep growls contrasted with Julia Niblock's operatic soprano flourishes.
Attrition began after Martin Bowes issued, as part of a fanzine covering the Coventry music scene, a vinyl compilation and met Julia Niblock at a resulting music festival. After a handful of demos, fully-formed tracks by Attrition began to appear on several notable cassette compilations, such as the Rising From the Red Sand series from the fledging Third Mind label. In 1983 their vinyl breakthrough came with the inclusion of "Dreamsleep" on the influential The Elephant Table Album alongside notable experimental artists such as Nurse With Wound, Chris and Cosey and Portion Control. Coil even opened for them at their first London show, and they appearded side by side with The Legendary Pink Dots on a European tour in 1984, attracting brief notice by John Peel in 1985.
In 1984 the band moved to London, rooming and sharing a studio with The Legendary Pink Dots. After signing to Third Mind Records, they released their debut album The Attrition of Reason as well as The Voice Of God EP to moderate commercial success. At this point, Julia Niblock briefly left the band to collaborate with The Legendary Pink Dots on Asylum (where she is credited as "Poison Barbarella") but returned the following year to rejoin Attrition. In 1985, the seminal Smiling, At The Hypogonder Club was released to extremely positive reviews; the release was later picked up for American audiences by the Projekt label. From: https://rateyourmusic.com/artist/attrition
