POST PUNK REVIVAL
- Jordan Aston
- Jul 31, 2019
- 3 min read
Punk rock is a genre that is responsible for spawning some of the biggest and most important genres of the past half a century. A number of sub genres emerged throughout the late twentieth century that also led to the creation of many new full genres that took many parts of the body of punk and evolved them into something completely different. These include alternative rock, indie rock, new wave, noise rock shoe-gaze and of course, post punk. Although, much of the skeletal elements of the genre derived from punk rock, much of the genre takes sounds and styles from a wide array of different genres. The energy and DIY sensibility of punk is still there but musically the genre takes heavy influence from electronic music, funk, free jazz and disco just to name a few.
In many ways, punk was a very straight forward and kind of basic genre. Because of this, many people look down on it as almost pathetic and artistically cheap. Post punk was the complete opposite of this, taking lyrical influences from literature, modernist art and cinema and blending genres together in a very avant-garde style. Similar to punk in many ways, post punk can be considered an umbrella term covering a broad variety of styles and sounds.
“The early post-punk vanguard was represented by groups such as Siouxsie and the Banshees, Wire, Magazine, Gang of Four, Public Image Ltd, the Pop Group, Joy Division, Throbbing Gristle, the Slits, Cabaret Voltaire, the Cure, the Fall, Au Pairs, Talking Heads and Pere Ubu. The movement was closely related to the development of ancillary genres such as gothic rock, neo-psychedelia, no wave and industrial music. By the mid 1980s, much of the movement had dissipated while providing the impetus for the New Pop movement as well much subsequent alternative and independent music.” ("Post-punk", 2019)
What I want to talk about here are the bands of the late 90’s – early 2000’s who were part of a movement to help save rock and roll in a time where the Backstreet Boys and NSYNC were dominating the music scene selling out massive venues all over the world. The collective term commonly used to describe this type of music is ‘Post-Punk Revival’.
At the heart of this genre lies a group who many people claim to have single-handedly saved rock and roll themselves The Strokes. The Strokes are a five-piece rock band who were done with the state that the music industry was in at the time. They somehow managed to rise from the ashes with a very traditional rock band format > drums/bass/2 guitars/vocals. What they were able to do was transform earlier genres such as punk and post-punk into something that was far cleaner and neater. Bands that followed suit (literally), include Arctic Monkeys, Franz Ferdinand, The Killers, Interpol, The Editors, Bloc Party, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and more.
The obvious links between all of these bands are the format of the band as mentioned earlier, the overdriven guitar tones which are almost always down-stroking in a repetitive motion and the clothing aesthetics of the members which very commonly seem to be some sort of version of a suit.
Here are some sonic examples of a few of the bands mentioned showing the down-stroking nature of the guitar playing. To me this is the fundamental link between all of these bands and is what will put any artist of any other genre who implement the same technique into the genre or movement of post-punk or post-punk revival.
References
Green, L. (2016). 10 Essential 21st Century post-punk albums. Retrieved 31 July 2019, from https://www.treblezine.com/27697-10-best-21st-century-post-punk-albums/
Post-punk. (2019). Retrieved 31 July 2019, from https://culture.fandom.com/wiki/Post-punk
New Wave/Post-Punk Revival Music Genre Overview | AllMusic. (2019). Retrieved 31 July 2019, from https://www.allmusic.com/style/new-wave-post-punk-revival-ma0000012020
The Killers - When You Were Young. (2009). Retrieved 31 July 2019, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ff0oWESdmH0
The Strokes - Last Nite. (2009). Retrieved 31 July 2019, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOypSnKFHrE
Interpol - PDA. (2018). Retrieved 31 July 2019, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oL5QQ-6sQ0
Arctic Monkeys - You Probably Couldn't See For The Lights But You Were Staring Straight At Me... (2009). Retrieved 31 July 2019, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8iV3tK717s
Bloc Party - Banquet. (2006). Retrieved 31 July 2019, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdkmhquF60o
Dunkley, G. (2019). Tumblr. Retrieved 31 July 2019, from https://strokescouture.tumblr.com/post/7935862295/the-strokes-are-so-new-york-it-hurts-they-look
Cohen, I. (2012). Cap the Old Times: The Story of Interpol's Turn on the Bright Lights | Pitchfork. Retrieved 31 July 2019, from https://pitchfork.com/features/article/8995-interpol/
Franz Ferdinand: We're All Bassists in This Band. We Don't Dismiss Bass Like Some Musicians. (2019). Retrieved 31 July 2019, from https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/general_music_news/franz_ferdinand_were_all_bassists_in_this_band_we_dont_dismiss_bass_like_some_musicians.html
Davino, B. (2018). Alex Turner admits he’s embarrassed by old Arctic Monkeys lyrics. Retrieved 31 July 2019, from https://tonedeaf.thebrag.com/alex-turner-admits-hes-embarrassed-by-old-arctic-monkeys-lyrics/
Hernandez, A. (2019). His gold suit is blinding me | Musicians in 2019 | Brandon flowers, Flowers, Boy bands. Retrieved 31 July 2019, from https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/124693483416556071/
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