With the help of John Peel and some exposure in NME, Pop Will Eat Itself's earliest singles--catchy and crude punk-pop--caught on with young British listeners in the late 1980s. Their 1987 debut album featured samples and a drum machine, with a decidedly more techno feel, although with the same sense of dopey, low-culture fun. On each successive album, the band's sound became heavier and its lyrics more overtly political, which alienated them from their early supporters in the press, if not their diehard fans. By 1996, the band had split, with founding member Clint Mansell going on to record acclaimed film scores for director Darren Aronofsky.