This one is a no-brainer, but must be included in the first of my post-punk posts. Granted, I've done post punk posts before, but this time it's for reals.
This just isn't any old post punk offering. This is probably the first record where someone from an actual, established punk band (The Buzzcocks, of course) parted ways with his former bandmates to form a band inspired by the clean slate of punk. Hence the "Post," hence the "Punk." Whatever.
I'm watching Conan O' Brien on the TV right now. I'm going to cry. I watched a lot of TV in college, and Conan was one of the TV things I watched. Also M.A.S.H. and also the shows on Cartoon Network. I also read a lot of Robert E. Howard's Conan stories.
Anyway, sweet meltmaster, you may ask, what makes a post-punk band? Or, more precisely, sweet meltmaster, what makes a definitive, genre-founding post-punk band?
Well, punk attitude. Which Howard Devoto has in spades. The Buzzcocks' Spiral Scratch EP is the most listenable of nascent, definitive brit-punk statements. The Buzzcocks were awesome after DeVoto, but hardly any punk band released anything as raw, snotty, and brilliant as Spiral Scratch. DeVoto brings that to Magazine, his new band. And then some cool piano and synthesizers. And the guitars are still there. And that makes post-punk, sweet meltmaster!!!
There were plenty of other forward-thinking bands. Pere Ubu was basically already making post-punk albums before the Ramones toured the UK. (Proto-post-punk, I guess we could say.) Other touchstones would be the some of the glamrock such as the first Roxy Music album, the first Eno album, Bowie etc; and previously maybe 13th floor Elevators and other psychedelic explorers who weren't so much as hippie as hip before their time. Anyhow, I always like to out-snob punk snobs by saying that "Punk" died in 1977 when Johnny Rotten quit the Pistols at the end of their US tour in California. Mainly because it did, mostly. But DeVoto started Magazine in what year HUH?!?!?!?! 1977? And it sounds light years away from Orgasm Addict!!!!
From this:
To this:
link!
Oh yes, all of the other Magazine albums are really good too.
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