Post Punk

The genre that I chose to write about is not well known in America because great deals of bands in this genre are British. It is only in the last ten years that the United States has recognized the influence of bands such as Joy Division and Gang of Four due to their influence on much of today’s music.

As a whole, Post Punk is more of a movement in music then an established genre. Although all Post Punk bands call all be said to be influenced by earlier Punk bands like the Sex Pistols and the Clash. Post Punk took the “do it yourself” independent spirit of Punk and also a sense of social-political awareness and to some extent activism. What Post Punk did was to free this “Punk Ethos” form some of the more anti-intellectual and anti-artistic notions that have developed as Punk swelled in popularity and threatened to spill over into the mainstream. Suddenly in the years following 1977 there was this massive movement incorporating punk simplicity and directness with a variety of other influences, such as reggae (“ska”) and disco (“death disco”).

Some Post Punk kept the three chord structure and tempos of Punk. There was also an emphasis on incorporating very “un-rock and roll” musical elements such as syncopation, reggae inspired base lines and minor scales. Some totally deviated form the guitar, base and drum format to include electrophones. In time these experiments would see the rise of the “New Wave”, which combined Punk Ethos and added dance and pop sensibilities i.e. the Human League.

Post Punk was a repudiation of both the nihilism of Punk as well as the stale state of traditional Rock and Roll.