Post-punk
Post-punk was a musical movement beginning at the end of the
1970s, following on the heels of the initial
punk rock "explosion" of the mid 1970s. For the more recent "post-punk" movement in rock music, see
post-punk revival.
During the first wave of punk, roughly spanning
1974–
1978, bands such as the
Sex Pistols,
The Clash,
The Ramones, and
The Damned began to challenge the current styles and conventions of rock music by stripping the musical structure down to a few basic chords and progressions with an emphasis on speed and attitude. Yet as punk itself soon came to have a signature sound a few bands began to experiment with more challenging musical structures, lyrical themes, and a self-consciously art-based image, while retaining punk's initial iconoclastic stance.
Typically more introverted, complex, arty, and
experimental than classic punk rock or the more pop-oriented
New Wave music, post-punk laid the groundwork for
alternative rock by broadening the idea of what punk and
underground music could do, incorporating elements of
Krautrock, Jamaican
dub music, American
funk, and studio experimentation into the punk rock genre. It found a firm place in the
1980s indie scene, and left behind several major sub-genres. However, post-punk's biggest influence remains in the vast variety of sounds and styles it pioneered, many of which proved very influential in the later alternative rock scene.
Classic examples of post-punk outfits include
The Fall,
Gang of Four,
Orange Juice,
Joy Division,
Echo & the Bunnymen, and
Wire. Bands such as
Crass and
Throbbing Gristle also came within the scope of post-punk, as with several outfits formed in the wake of traditionally punk rock groups:
Magazine from
Buzzcocks, for instance, or
Public Image Ltd. from the Sex Pistols. A list of predecessors to the post-punk genre of music might include
Television, whose album
Marquee Moon, although released in
1977 (when the punk genre was just forming), is considered definitively post-punk in style. (However, many would argue that bands such as
Television,
Talking Heads, and
the Voidoids were all core punk, as it was the raw originality and diversity of sound and style that was punk.) Other groups, such as The Clash, remained predominantly punk in nature yet inspired and were inspired by elements in the post-punk movement.
Championed by late night
BBC disc jockey John Peel and record label/shop
Rough Trade (amongst others, including
Postcard Records,
Factory Records,
Falling A Records,
Industrial Records,
Fast Product, and
Mute Records), "post-punk" could arguably be said to encompass many diverse groups and musicians. The original post-punk movement took place largely in the United Kingdom, with significant scenes throughout the world, though North America and other non-European bands weren't often recognized worldwide (with some notable exceptions, such as North Americans
Pere Ubu,
Lydia Lunch,
Suicide, early
Hüsker Dü and
Mission of Burma).
The original post-punk movement ended as the bands associated with the movement moved away from its aesthetics, just as post-punk bands had originally left punk rock behind in favor of new sounds. Many post-punk bands, most notably
The Cure and
Siouxsie & the Banshees, evolved into
gothic rock (formerly a style of the larger post-punk movement) and became identified with the
goth subculture. Some shifted to a more commercial New Wave sound, while others were fixtures on American college radio and became early examples of alternative rock.
A few illustrative short clips of post-punk music:
Note: files size vary from 185 kB to 305 kB, and all are 20 seconds long.*
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Alternative rock/
Indie rock*
Gothic rock*
Industrial music*
New Wave music*
No Wave*
Punk Rock*
List of post-punk bands*
Post-punk revival*
Allmusic.com page for Post-punk*
Hour-long public radio interview with Simon Reynolds, author of "Rip It Up and Start Again: Post-Punk 1978-1984" on
The Sound of Young America*
Simon Reynolds' Rip It Up and Start Again: Post-Punk 1978-1984, Fast 'n' Bulbous review
