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New wave/post-punk rebirth? I applaud it!

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New wave/post-punk rebirth? I applaud it!

Old 11-12-03, 09:39 AM
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New wave/post-punk rebirth? I applaud it!

The Walkmen
The French Kicks
Interpol
Stellastarr*
The Stills
The Shins
British Sea Power
Radio 4
The Rapture

..all of these bands are mining the music from the late seventies and early eightes from bands like Joy Division, the Cure, Suicide, Siouxie and the Banshees, the Fall, Pere Ubu and Wire. Retro-Joy Division sounds like an unlikely prospect, but these bands get away with it. They're all good bands releasing some great albums (the Shins and the Walkmen are particularly good, IMO). What's going on here? Is there some sort of rule in rock where every trand makes a resurgence every twenty years?

Not that I'm complaining. In fact, I'm getting a little sick of people decrying the lackluster state of the music biz these days who haven't even scratched the surface of what's out there. I can't remember a time when there was so much great music out there to be had (I'm not even talking about the excellent releases in other types of music like that from Wilco, Spoon, Outkast, Basement Jaxx, Lemon Jelly, Mars Volta etc.)

It reminds me of the mid-eighties true "alternative" scene when Homestead and SST records were putting out classic stuff that nobody but college students bought. All of the music from that period became popular in the ninties when people suddenly realized, ten years after the fact, that maybe the Pixies were a band worth listening to. Is the same thing going to happen here?
Old 11-12-03, 10:12 AM
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Hmm, never actually heard any of the new bands you mentioned but am a big fan of the older bands you listed as their influences. I'll have to check them out.
Old 11-12-03, 10:16 AM
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i'm seeing the rapture this saturday. can't wait!
Old 11-12-03, 10:19 AM
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Hiro11, you should check out Clinic as well.
Old 11-12-03, 10:24 AM
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Originally posted by RevLiver
Hiro11, you should check out Clinic as well.
I've got their first one, what else is good?
Old 11-12-03, 10:26 AM
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First one meaning set of EPs on one self-titled CD? I like all of them. Walking With Thee is their latest, is slightly more polished than their earlier work, but still has their distinct sound. Internal Wrangler was the first full length, it's also quite good.

Some people think their EPs were their best and that they've gone downhill since then, but I'm of the opposite opinion. I think they've honed their skills and production since then.

I saw them live twice last year and they ran through 15 songs or so in about 35 minutes each time. Very energetic show.
Old 11-12-03, 10:32 AM
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Originally posted by RevLiver
First one meaning set of EPs on one self-titled CD? I like all of them. Walking With Thee is their latest, is slightly more polished than their earlier work, but still has their distinct sound. Internal Wrangler was the first full length, it's also quite good.

Some people think their EPs were their best and that they've gone downhill since then, but I'm of the opposite opinion. I think they've honed their skills and production since then.

I saw them live twice last year and they ran through 15 songs or so in about 35 minutes each time. Very energetic show.
This is the one I have:
Old 11-12-03, 10:43 AM
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Yeah, I'm loving the 'new' post punk stuff very much. Entertainment! (by Gang of Four) is one of my top 5 albums, so I just really get off on things that cover similar ground, so long as they do it well.

The way I look at it, most the original bands from that era only released a handful of albums, if even that. Some of them didn't really get a chance to branch out and alter their sound, so that's where someo f todays bands come in. Hell, I even think that The Rapture's Echoes is more what the later era Gang of Four should've sounded like. I don't see this as "ripping off" I see it as carrying the torch. Anyone who grew up through the 80's (and 90's, I suppose) and listened to Joy Division, Wire, Mission of Burma records (to name a few) were definetly going to be affected by them when time came to start a band. The current scene/trend is a testament to how vital these bands were (and are, seeing as some are reformed). Hopefully these new bands will each put out a string of good albums that evolve the sound laid down by their forefathers.
Old 11-12-03, 10:55 AM
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I applaud what's going on musically with these bands as well. I'm THRILLED that people are paying attention to them or otherwise I might not have gotten a chance to hear them.

Interpol for example. I personally don't hear anything in their Bright Lights disc that hasn't been done before. But it's SO wonderfully done that I don't care. My favorite period of music is probably where punk and new wave clashed. The many ideas and goofy fun of that time period is something I have missed greatly over the last decade. I wouldn't call Interpol goofy, but they are influenced by such outstanding bands like JD and the Chameleons.

I haven't heard some of those bands you listed. I am eagerly waiting for the day I get to hear the Rapture disc from what I've read about them. Ya know, these bands sound THAT much better compared to what is uber-popular these days (talking about most of the threads in this music section at the current moment).

I'm sure these bands would be around no matter what, but I'm also happy they are seemingly getting decent budgets to record as well. I was surprised that Interpol was on Matador. Not that Matador is a wimpy indie, but it sounds like an album that a lot of money went into.
Old 11-12-03, 11:03 AM
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Originally posted by Hiro11
This is the one I have:
That's Internal Wrangler. Get Walking With Thee next. Then go get the self-titled EP compilation.
Old 11-12-03, 01:53 PM
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Walking With Thee =

I don't really have anything new to say in this thread, other than that I like all of the bands -aside from Radio 4- that Hiro11 listed. Having grown up in the 90s (or at least, I was only really aware of music in the 90s), all I knew about the 80s was what I was told: kitsch and depravity. It wasn't until the past 3 years that I really began to see that the 80s was a damn fine decade for music. It's also nice to see kids actually moving at shows; the crowd at Yeah Yeah Yeahs on Sunday (DC) was seriously flipping out - something you never see on a large scale at DC shows.

It seems to have gathered a lot of steam lately, though I think this has been a steady path. You can look back to '94 when Blur released "Girls and Boys" and see some definite nods toward new-wave clubbers. More recently, you can praise (or blame) The Human League for all but making electroclash*.

What's gotten me in a real tizzy lately is the sudden attention being paid to No Wave from the NYC of the late 70s-early 80s. Rhino Records is having a ball re-releasing material -Glenn Branca, The Ascension; Rhys Chatham, An Angel Moves Too Fast To See; James Chance, some box set- and I know that a couple other labels have put out box-sets of ESG and Liquid Liquid (Theoretical Girls and DNA are talking about dropping a retrospective set though I haven't heard a confirmation), not to mention the recent New York Noise and NY No Wave comps. I also had little trouble finding a copy of The Contortions' Buy the Contortions (wish I could say they same of Sax Manic and OffWhite). You can hear its influence in a lot of bands lately, as well: Ex Models, Liars, !!!, The Rapture, etc.

*I understand that electroclash makes most people cringe, but I don't mind it at all. Adult.'s Resuscitation is still a great album as far as I'm concerned.

-edit-

You could throw Sonic Youth into the list of No Wave influenced bands since Lee Ranaldo and Thurston Moore were, more or less, students of Glenn Branca.

Last edited by fallow; 11-12-03 at 05:58 PM.
Old 11-13-03, 07:38 AM
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Originally posted by fallow
[B][i]I knew about the 80s was what I was told: kitsch and depravity. It wasn't until the past 3 years that I really began to see that the 80s was a damn fine decade for music.
I guess I'm a little older, I grew up in the mid eighties. It's like the seventies, people remember it as the decade of disco and Peter Frampton, but there was also Can, Roxy Music, Kraftwerk, The Stooges, New York Dolls, Brian Eno...etc. When I think of the eighties, I think Mission of Burma, Jesus and Mary Chain, The Clean, Minutemen, Sonic Youth and the Replacements. Every decade has the superficial stuff that it's remembered for...and then the deep stuff it should be remembered for. I'm just glad that some kids out there did listen to "Sister " and "Signals, Calls and Marches" and made some music that reflects them.
What's gotten me in a real tizzy lately is the sudden attention being paid to No Wave from the NYC of the late 70s-early 80s. Rhino Records is having a ball re-releasing material -Glenn Branca, The Ascension; Rhys Chatham, An Angel Moves Too Fast To See; James Chance, some box set- and I know that a couple other labels have put out box-sets of ESG and Liquid Liquid (Theoretical Girls and DNA are talking about dropping a retrospective set though I haven't heard a confirmation), not to mention the recent New York Noise and NY No Wave comps. I also had little trouble finding a copy of The Contortions' Buy the Contortions (wish I could say they same of Sax Manic and OffWhite). You can hear its influence in a lot of bands lately, as well: Ex Models, Liars, !!!, The Rapture, etc.
Talk about an unlikely revival. I'm just waiting for someone to release an Arto Lindsay or John Zorn cover on a major label. Maybe that will be a sign of the apocalypse.
Old 11-13-03, 08:45 AM
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Originally posted by Hiro11
When I think of the eighties, I think Mission of Burma, Jesus and Mary Chain, The Clean, Minutemen, Sonic Youth and the Replacements. Every decade has the superficial stuff that it's remembered for...and then the deep stuff it should be remembered for.
Absolutely. It's very easy to think of the crap in the 80's (fashion, Alf), but I believe the 80's were much more interesting than the 90's. I put my CD collection into guzzlefish and was surprised to learn that I own more discs from the 90's than the 80's, but I don't think it's a better decade. It's fun sometimes to realize you are wrong about your perceptions.
Even though I grew up in the 70's I thought that most pre-77 rock was kind of bad. I even made a 60's revival tape (garage punk recorded in the 80's) and I named it "Skip the '70s". What a dolt! Great decade, and as you say.... just dig a bit deeper.
Old 11-13-03, 11:02 AM
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I thought that a lot of the better 80s synth-pop and post-punk never received much recognition so it's nice to see newer artists bring some attention to the sound.

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