De Brassers, from Hamont in Belgium, were embraced by many as icons of the punk movement in Belgium around 1980. Their music was a local mixture of the Sex Pistols (in the lowest gear), Joy Division and Cabaret Voltaire (because of the typical Korg MS20 sound).    The doomed sound they produced tells a lot about the dark atmosphere of the late seventies and early eighties: the fear of atomic bombs, cold war pessimism, police violence against squatters, and the grim years of Reagan & Thatcher.    The main artefact of the band is the single “En toen was er niets meer” (And then there was nothing more). The song in Dutch even made it to the renowned New Musical Express who described de brassers as “mean and moody modern chaps”. Other songtitles speak for themselves: Kontrole, Twijfels (Doubts), Living on the Edge, Sick in your Mind, Rise and Fall …   It all ended in 1982 because of drug issues and problems with the police and justice.   After sporadic reunion gigs throughout the years, de Brassers are a working unit again as of 1998. They played amongst other things at Pukkelpop festival and supported contemporaries as The Stranglers, Wire and Public Image Limited.