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Post-punk

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Template:PunkboxPost-punk refers to two distinct movements in rock music: the first appearing at the dawn of the 1980s following the initial punk rock "explosion", and the second beginning in the late-1990s and continuing into the present day.

Post-punk in the 1980s

During the first wave of punk, roughly spanning 1976–1983, 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 college rock 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 Gang of Four, Joy Division/New Order, and Wire. Bands such as Crass and The Fall 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. 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, 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 England, with significant scenes throughout Europe, though did not spread to North America in the same way that punk rock had (with some notable exceptions, such as Boston's Mission of Burma).

See also: Industrial music, Goth music, No Wave, Cassette culture, Indie rock, Oi!

Post-punk in the present day

At the turn of the century, the term "post-punk" began to appear in the music press again, with some critics reviving the label to describe a new set of bands that shared some of the aesthetics of the original post-punk era. Rather than being a revival of post-punk from the 1980s, however, present-day post-punk is in part a reaction against the radio-friendly sound of pop punk and alternative rock that developed during the 1990s. A reevaluation of the sonic conventions from that era, this second wave of post-punk incorporates elements of the dance and indie music of the late-1980s and 1990s in much the same way that the original post-punk movement was informed by the krautrock, dub, and disco music of the 1970s.

Twenty-first century bands described as "post-punk" have included commercial heavyweights such as Franz Ferdinand, The Killers, and The Strokes, as well as more moderately successful outfits such as Interpol, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Kills, and The Stills. Some groups have taken elements from the second wave of post-punk into their oeuvre, such as long-time psychedelic rockers The Flaming Lips, while others occupy the outer limits of the genre that border on dance-punk, such as Q and Not U, !!!, or The Rapture.

The current post-punk revival has also been pegged as a form of garage rock, a genre of music that has constantly informed rock and roll since the 1960s and which has taken on new shapes with each passing generation of artists.

Dual meaning

The use of the term "post-punk" to describe two distinct waves of rock music, despite their many differences, has stuck. In the early-1990s some critics referred to what are now considered hardcore punk and post-hardcore groups such as Fugazi and Girls Against Boys as "post-punk", though the usage did not last. Yet today, the new second meaning is legitimized not only by consensus but by the historical positions of each movement relative to the dominant punk rock music of their respective eras: the first form of post-punk being a response to late-'70s punk rock, and the present-day form being a response to 1990s punk rock.

Many critics do not buy into this usage, however, and simply label the present-day bands "modern rock"—alongside pop punk acts such as Green Day, Good Charlotte, Sum 41, and The Ataris—or as "indie rock" or "garage rock revival". Unlike the original post-punk artists, who were often deliberately difficult and obtuse, many bands of the post-punk revival have been more accessible and radio-friendly, leading some to claim that they are not stylisic torchbearers of the post-punk style but are instead simply a variant within the dominant commercial style of rock music.

Lists of bands

Post-punk influences (1970s era)

A list of bands that influenced the original post-punk movement.

Post-punk bands (1980s era)

A list of bands from the first wave of post-punk, along with those significantly influenced by the genre.

Post-punk bands (2000s era)

A list of bands from the second wave of post-punk—a present-day "garage rock revival"—along with those significantly influenced by the genre.


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