Following the fire that destroyed the Resource Centre and the Vault (see December 2000) in 1980, the Brighton punk scene was dealt a further blow when the Attrix Record Shop in Sydney Street closed down two years later. Running costs had soared and there was very little profit in selling obscure records.

Rick and Julie Blair, who ran the shop and the Atrrix label, felt the financial burden of the shop's overheads was making the label suffer. After the release of Vaultage 80, the punk scene, both nationally and in Brighton, was all but over. Meanwhile, Margaret Thatcher had come to power.