Post-Punk!

Rich_Why

Maybe I haven't checked up on this thoroughly enough, but I'm shocked to find no thread to do with Post-Punk under the Alternative section! I mean come on! Without Post-Punk, the alternative scene never would have existed!

Main Influencial Post-Punk acts;
Joy Division,
Sonic Youth,
The Jesus & Mary Chain,
My Bloody Valentine,
Gang of Four,
The Sound,
Wire
.
.
.
.
The list goes on.....

Anyone else out there whos in love with the melodic, wall of sound and distortion, mature child of Punk music....speak now!:D

John

I wouldn't really class My Bloody Valentine as post punk. And I definitely wouldn't class the movement as a whole as the mature child of punk. I think it's what punk should have been and Johnny Rotten only got it right the second time around.

Most of the threads tend to drift towards post punk anyway (I can't remember what thread it was but there was a nice little discussion on the fabulous Wire). Post punk is great. Has anyone else read this book:


Really interesting book, even if you think you know your stuff. Some of it could be better researched but as a general history and guide to what bands you might be missing, it's great. The recent compilation based on the book is pants though.

Rich_Why

Some of My Bloody Valentine's work is definitely Post-Punk, maybe they were around near the end of the scene but they were definitely Post-Punk, Noise Pop, maybe dipping into a little Shoegazing taking influence from the Mary Chains PsychoCandy or the Cocteau Twins.

And maybe refering to Post-Punk as the mature child of Punk is a little extreme. But you can't say I'm wrong when I say that Post-Punk was born from musicians listnening to Punk music and experimenting with it, adding melody and art based themes and lyrics while still upholding punks initial stance.

My Bloody Valentine are a long way from Punk maybe, but the like of Joy Division and early Sonic Youth definitely aren't. A genre can mature while still remaining true to its nature.

More Post-Punk bands;

The The
Psychedelic Furs
Minutemen
Cocteau Twins
Depeche Mode
Mission of Burma
.
.
.

honru

Favourite post-punk album is The Cure's Boys Don't Cry, edging out Three Imaginary Boys for the inclusion of the three singles released around that time. Just a fantastic, simple album.

Can't go wrong with Mission of Burma's Vs. either.

Dudess

I think post-punk refers to the likes of Cabaret Voltaire, A Certain Ratio, Throbbing Gristle, Public Image Ltd - a lot of stuff on Mute Records in the late 70s/early 80s, ditto Rough Trade. Don't know if all early eighties "indie" could be thrown in there. But then, the genres do tend to blur with each other. A lot of what I just mentioned might be termed "goth".
In my opinion, the eighties is the best era for alternative music. I think it's because I latched onto that kind of stuff from age 10 or 11 by listening to my older brothers' records (made the transition from Jason/Kylie/Bros to Pixies/Smiths/Cure which was cool).

DerekD Goldfish

That Simon Reynolds book is great i have become slighly obsessed with the genre in recent years im my opinion it was the most creative time in music and created more truely great albums than any other period

Dudess

It is pretty damn fascinating all right. There was this major Marxist thing going on with some of the groups too. Scritti Politti apparently held some seriously radical views. Can't believe they're the same guys who went on to record The Word Girl in '85!

John

Dudess wrote:

Throbbing Gristle

I always chuckle when people lump TG in with post punk considering they were on the go for years before punk (they made the headlines before The Sex Pistols when they put on an exhibition about Prostitution in the ICA and played a ****ing sensational soundtrack to it. The exhibition featured pornography made by the band and used tampons made into sculptures, kind of puts the Pistols swearing on TV into perspective). Sorry for that aside, Industrial music is my passion.

I mentioned it in another thread but Rough Trade's Post Punk compilation is well worth buying (and can normally be picked up on the cheap).

To me the perfect post punk band is Joy Division. While I recognise that they were following what other bands were doing before them (Can, PiL, Throbbing Gristle, etc), they didn't really sound like anyone else and no one sounds like them, not even New Order. The music just sounds so eerie and beautiful.

Dudess

Oh I know Throbbing Gristle were around well before punk but they do seem to get lumped in with that post-punk lot. But, like I said, I think it's difficult to define what exactly that is. Do you like Front 242?

John

Funnily enough, Front 242 and all that EBM type stuff never really does anything for me. I feel I should like them but I can't seem to get into them. I like the odd track by them and Frontline Assembly but apart from that I can take or leave them.

ZWEI_VIER_ZWEI

gg Post-Punk...

Probably one of my favourite genres...love stuff like early Killing Joke ( and later KJ, but it wasn't exactly Post Punk ), Joy Division, Comsat Angels, PiL etc. Though I always wondered how much JD's 'post-punk' sound was their own and how much belonged to Martin Hancock, when you consider their earlier recordings..

Funny, I saw that book in Hodges & Figgis yesterday...is it worth buying?

John

Yeah, it's one of the best books on music I've read.

nlgbbbblth

f®eak s&#169 wrote: »

Favourite post-punk album is The Cure's Boys Don't Cry, edging out Three Imaginary Boys for the inclusion of the three singles released around that time. Just a fantastic, simple album.

I don't consider Boys Don't Cry as a proper album given that it was a kinda mish-mash of the majority of Three Imaginary Boys plus the first three singles primarily aimed at the US market.

Bought Rip It Up a few months ago but it's still in the book pile.

nlgbbbblth

Dudess wrote:

It is pretty damn fascinating all right. There was this major Marxist thing going on with some of the groups too. Scritti Politti apparently held some seriously radical views. Can't believe they're the same guys who went on to record The Word Girl in '85!

What exactly is wrong with The Word Girl?

The Early Years comp
Songs To Remember
Cupid & Psyche '85 [from which The Word Girl is taken]

are all equally good.

nlgbbbblth

John2 wrote:

Front 242

have dated horribly.
Back in 1989 I remember hearing their Front by Front LP in Comet and buying it on the spot.
.
Spun it for the first time in years last night and meh.

DadaKopf

Rich_Why wrote:

Without Post-Punk, the alternative scene never would have existed!

You mean like Kaiser Chiefs?

DadaKopf

John2 wrote:

Yeah, it's one of the best books on music I've read.

Nearly as good as Lipstick Traces?

honru

nlgbbbblth wrote:

I don't consider Boys Don't Cry as a proper album given that it was a kinda mish-mash of the majority of Three Imaginary Boys plus the first three singles primarily aimed at the US market.

Ah yeah, Three Imaginary Boys was the proper release but they're just so similar anyway. I have both CDs, back in the day when I used a CD player either one would do.

John

DadaKopf wrote:

Nearly as good as Lipstick Traces?

Never read it

nlgbbbblth

f®eak s&#169 wrote: »

Ah yeah, Three Imaginary Boys was the proper release but they're just so similar anyway. I have both CDs, back in the day when I used a CD player either one would do.

What do you use now?

I have them both on vinyl [spin them regularly]

SHAMEFULLY Killing An Arab has been airbrushed out of history. Didn't appear as a bonus track on the deluxe Three Imaginary Boys CD nor was it on the last Greatest Hits.

Aside from on Boys Don't Cry, Standing On A Beach remains the only place to get it unless you own the 7" on Small Wonder records.

honru

A battered iPod.

The last Cure Greatest Hits skipped soo much stuff. One of the first albums I bought was Staring at the Sea (the CD title) and I loved it. Definetly the compilation of choice as far as The Cure goes.

I suppose they still keep Killing an Arab alive in this day and age when they play it on tour.

John

Do they still play it? I bet they're afraid of Al Qaeda.

honru

Interesting thought but it's usually a staple at their big three hour "evening with..." type shows. Probably moreso now that they've completely axed keyboards.

John

They've axed the keyboards? I really need to keep up

SprostonGreen

What's the deal with Killing an arab?

Was it a double A-side?

They made a video for 10.15 Saturday night, (which I believe was the "B" side) but not Killing and arab?

Rich_Why

DadaKopf wrote:

You mean like Kaiser Chiefs?

Is that supposed to be a joke?......

Dudess

nlgbbbblth wrote:

What exactly is wrong with The Word Girl?

Nothing wrong with The World Girl at all. Great pop song. I'm just saying it's strange that it's what those guys went on to record. Sounds like it could have been done by Aswad.

nlgbbbblth

SprostonGreen wrote:

What's the deal with Killing an arab?

Was it a double A-side?

They made a video for 10.15 Saturday night, (which I believe was the "B" side) but not Killing and arab?

Wasn't a double a side.
A/ Killing An Arab
B/ 10.15 Saturday Night

When they played in the RDS on 15 July 1989 they played 10.15 Saturday Night around 10.30pm. It was a Saturday night. Best gig ever.

SprostonGreen

nlgbbbblth wrote:

Wasn't a double a side.
A/ Killing An Arab
B/ 10.15 Saturday Night

When they played in the RDS on 15 July 1989 they played 10.15 Saturday Night around 10.30pm. It was a Saturday night. Best gig ever.

I'm hearing ya, I was there!!!

But it's strange that they made a video for 10.15 and not for Killing an arab.

Though I know there is a video on Staring at the sea, but Tim Pope made that in 1987 for the compilation.

Bannasidhe

John wrote: »

I always chuckle when people lump TG in with post punk considering they were on the go for years before punk (they made the headlines before The Sex Pistols when they put on an exhibition about Prostitution in the ICA and played a ****ing sensational soundtrack to it. The exhibition featured pornography made by the band and used tampons made into sculptures, kind of puts the Pistols swearing on TV into perspective). Sorry for that aside, Industrial music is my passion.

I mentioned it in another thread but Rough Trade's Post Punk compilation is well worth buying (and can normally be picked up on the cheap).

To me the perfect post punk band is Joy Division. While I recognise that they were following what other bands were doing before them (Can, PiL, Throbbing Gristle, etc), they didn't really sound like anyone else and no one sounds like them, not even New Order. The music just sounds so eerie and beautiful.

Old Thread I know...

But just had to put my 2 cents in to say that technically TG didn't perform 'Prostitution' at the ICA - it was an earlier incarnation called Coum Transmissions - same members (Gen P-Orridge, Sleazy, Cosi and Chris) but they were performance art rather than music. When they moved into music they morphed into TG and founded Industrial Records.

Manchegan

I would have thought Magazine would embody what's considered post-punk more than most: an aesthetic that would be the connection between punk and, say, Joy Division. Otherwise, if it's just "what came out as a reaction to punk" then Two Tone and Dexys would warrant inclusion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0J1sOQdvudc

Bannasidhe

Manchegan wrote: »

I would have thought Magazine would embody what's considered post-punk more than most: an aesthetic that would be the connection between punk and, say, Joy Division. Otherwise, if it's just "what came out as a reaction to punk" then Two Tone and Dexys would warrant inclusion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0J1sOQdvudc

Agree completely. We should also include Depeche Mode and all on Mute Records like The The as 'in reaction to'. Even at the time the boundaries were not hard and fast. In the thriving Cork scene at the time were 'Punk' bands like The Unknown Wrecks playing gigs with Five go Down to the Sea who had their roots in punk but were going somewhere new, and Micro Disney who were beginning to explore a more electro influenced sound.

cinnamon girl

Huge post-punk fan here, in addition to bands listed above I'd also name the Au Pairs, Chameleons, Gun Club, Disco Inferno, Moodists and Nightingales... I'm sure a few more will come to me after I hit submit!

Logikparty and Cap Pas Cap are two good current Irish postpunk bands (No Wave variety).

markesmith

+ lots for Gang of Four, Joy Division, and this little gem from my new favourite band:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzOqpo7Pt-A

bullpost

Also John Cooper Clarkes Snap, Crackle and Pop. album.
He was backed on this one by the invisible girls - a sort of post-punk supergroup.

It contains the amazing Beasley street:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euD0o0x-jAo

bullpost

Simon Reynolds Post Punk blog - Not recently updated but lots of relevant content:

http://ripitupandstartagainbysimonreynolds.blogspot.com/

JerryHandbag

cinnamon girl wrote: »

Huge post-punk fan here, in addition to bands listed above I'd also name the Au Pairs, Chameleons, Gun Club, Disco Inferno, Moodists and Nightingales... I'm sure a few more will come to me after I hit submit!

Logikparty and Cap Pas Cap are two good current Irish postpunk bands (No Wave variety).

Got into this band from music reviews of Editors/Interpol albums saying how they were a huge influence. Very underrated.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kshqjaKR6Io

SilverScreen

I love me some New York post-punk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qmn-P4qbIwo

Bush Tetras were a brilliant and very underrated post-punk band from the early 80's. Some of their songs have an awesome dancey and funky vibe to them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0mtzlipqiU

Mars were a very interesting no-wave band. I actually love the fact that they have absolutely no musical ability whatsoever, the sounds they make are really abstract, artful and out-there.