What does post-punk revival revival mean? Did post-punk fade away? Why is it even important? Was that a typo? These are all questions you might have asked yourself when you read the headline. What do I mean by post-punk revival revival? Let me explain.
We all remember the heyday of the early 2000’s when post-punk/alt-rock bands such as The Strokes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Franz Ferdinand, Interpol and many more were all over the airwaves. These bands revived a genre that seemed lost between the notes for a long time. Coming out of cities such as Detroit, New York and San Francisco, a number of bands emerged from underground clubs and suddenly appeared on charts in the UK, US and Australia. It was a glorious time but sadly, by the end of the decade, post-punk was on the decline for the second time.
The likes of My Chemical Romance and Fall Out Boy had taken over with records such as The Black Parade and Infinity On High respectively. Green Day were also huge in the mid-noughties, with American Idiot and its several hit singles playing everywhere you went. Pop-punk was in and there wasn’t much room for anything else. Sure, some of this music was still good, but it seemed to lack the authenticity of post-punk when it came around (though yes, I know it was a revival). That’s not to say that post-punk was the leading genre of the early 2000’s, I’m just saying you just heard it a lot. Obviously pop has been ever present on the airwaves but post-punk bands were around in abundance all the same. Then, they just seemed to vanish.
Interpol, The Strokes, Franz Ferdinand and many more all took a hit, lets just get that straight. I’m a huge Interpol fan but for a few years their music has been below standard. Antics was epic, but up until Marauder I hadn’t heard anything to get excited about. Like I said, pop-punk was in, but so was R&B and rap. I loved some of those records, especially rap as I was just the right age for it (plus I’m totally down with the home ladz), but I kept falling back into the comfort of the bands I loved from years earlier. They were the records I could rely on.
Since about the middle of 2017 I’ve rediscovered post-punk and some of the bands who are bringing it back. It really feels to me that there’s a post-punk revival revival happening at the minute. There are some brilliant records floating around from the last 1-2 years too; Preoccupations by Preoccupations, Adore by Savages, Songs of Praise by Shame and Relatives In Decent by Protomartyr to name a few. Check out any of those I promise you’ll find real, genuine music full of purpose. It’s an exciting time for lovers of the genre as more and more bands are creeping out of the woodwork with a slightly but noticeably varied take on the genre each time.
I’ve also been to some great shows recently such as IDLES live at The Button Factory. That gig really blew my mind because the crowd were so involved. IDLES are like that, they want everyone to be part of their movement. When Shame played Whelans it was a similar feeling. I guess the point I’m trying to make is that I’ve found post-music, and it’s shows, to be completely unique from any other genre of music I’ve lent my ears to. Admittedly, I’ve never been to a proper hardcore punk gig but I promise it’s on the list!
Until then, I’ll continue to love post-punk for all it’s given me over the years. I do hope however that this revival lasts for much longer than the last.
G.M
Photo Credit: Consequence of Sound
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