Post-Punk
Protomartyr Share New Single “Michigan Hammers”: Stream
Protomartyr were meant to release their new album, Ultimate Success Today, tomorrow. However, due to the coronavirus crisis, the band has now pushed the album’s release date to July 17th. To tide fans over until then, they’ve shared a new single in “Michigan Hammers”. For all its kineticism, “Michigan Hammers” feels extremely coalesced. Shots of staccato guitar are glued together with relentless but measured drums and the coaxing of horns. It’s like rubble being carefully reconstructed into art, which is fitting considering the track’s themes: “What’s been torn down can be rebuilt/ What has been rebuilt can be destroyed,” sings frontman Joe Casey. The song comes with a video made using only stock footage due to, as Casey puts it, the current “miasma.” “This video is a retelling of a well-k...
Gang of Four Announce New Anti Hero EP, Share Posthumous Andy Gill Song “Forever Starts Now”: Stream
Earlier this year, Gang of Four co-founder and guitarist Andy Gill passed away at the age of 64. Now, the band’s remaining members are prepping to release a new EP called Anti Hero, featuring a song co-written by Gill prior to his death. The track in question is called “Forever Starts Now” and was penned while Gang of Four were working on their 2019 album, Happy Now. “We’d always seen something great in the track, been excited by it, and would bring up the fact we needed to finish it after a glass of wine or midway through a game of pool on tour,” frontman John Sterry told Rolling Stone. “Life kept intervening like that and then, of course, the opposite of life, so we never did get to the final mix.” According to Sterry, the single is about a character who uses love “to exert control ...
Squid Unravel on New Single “Broadcaster”: Stream
Back in March, Brighton post-punk band Squid announced their signing to Warp Records by releasing a new single called “Sludge”. Today, they’re sharing its follow-up, a marvelously unraveling tune called “Broadcaster”. Beginning with a synth loop that recalls Stereolab or Kraftwerk, the song gradually expands as vocalist/drummer Ollie Judge’s grumbly delivery gets louder and more eccentric. As the song reaches its climax, the synth line boils over and Judge holds a sustained yell that’s positively captivating. Hear it for yourself below. According to Judge, the track’s lyrics were inspired by the visual artist Naim June Paik and his TV Garden installation, which juxtaposes living plants with video monitors. “I thought it blurred the lines between a dystopian and utopian vision,” he explaine...
Country Westerns Share the Origins of New Single “I’m Not Ready”: Stream
In our new music feature Origins, bands give their listeners some insight into the inspirations behind their latest track. Today, Country Westerns explain why “I’m Not Ready”. For a full year, few had heard the music of Country Westerns besides the late David Berman. After all, Silver Jews drummer Brian Kotzur had started the project with The Weight/Gentleman Jesse’s Joey Plunkett as a way to play music pressure-free; performing for the indie icon was enough of an outlet. They’d tested the waters of Nashville’s DIY party scene, but otherwise kept things close to the garage. Once State Champion’s Sabrina Rush picked up bass for the first time and started playing with Country Westerns, however, it was Berman who encouraged them to take their sound wider. So off the trio went to New York, spe...
IDLES Return With Rallying New Song “Mr. Motivator”: Stream
IDLES’ “Mr. Motivator” video Just when we could all use a boost, IDLES are back with a rallying new song called “Mr. Motivator”. It serves as the first official preview of their new album. With their signature breed of stomping punk instrumentation and frontman Joe Talbot’s wily vocals, the Bristol natives crank through a whole batch of self-admitted cliches in the name of inspiration. “Like Conor McGregor with a samurai sword on roller blades/ Like Vasyl Lomachenko after four pints of Gatorade”, hacks Talbot during the track’s first verse. “Let’s seize the day/ All hold hands/ Chase the pricks away”, he chants throughout its cheery refrain. “Mr. Motivator” falls in line with the style of rough-and-tough positivity that IDLES became known for on their 2018 record, Joy As ...
The Complicated Legacy of Joy Division’s Ian Curtis
As we think back on 40 years without Ian Curtis, Dan Weiss examines the sad nature of the young frontman and Joy Division’s music, especially as we collectively experience these strange times of isolation in quarantine. “Surrendered to self-preservation/ From others who care for themselves” — Joy Division, “Isolation” I know I’m beholden to the perpetual motion machine of anniversary cycles because I’m the press, but what’s your excuse? Yes, it’s the 40th anniversary of a day that was particularly grim long before there was any pandemic. On May 17, 1980, Ian Curtis died by suicide, possibly the most “famous” hanging in rock history, a morbid martyrdom that secured his legacy as the accidental inventor of just about anything goth. But that doesn’t mean you have to do something stupid like l...
Peter Hook & The Light’s Performance of Every Joy Division Song Now Streaming: Watch
The surviving members of Joy Division are commemorating the 40th anniversaries of both the band’s final album, Closer, and the death of late frontman Ian Curtis in a number of ways. Today, Peter Hook & The Light get things started with the streaming release of a never-before-seen concert film capturing their performance of Joy Division’s entire catalog. Dubbed So This Is Permanent, the film was recorded during Hook & The Light’s special 2015 performance at the 500-capacity Christ Church in Macclesfield, England, Curtis’ hometown. The gig was celebrating what was then Joy Division’s 35th anniversary, and saw the band play every single song by the iconic post-punk outfit. Speaking to Consequence of Sound for a recent interview, Hook recalled the momentous show. “We pla...
Ranking: Every Joy Division Song In Honor of Ian Curtis
Joy Division never wrote a bad song; there just wasn’t any time. In the four years the Manchester outfit existed, Ian Curtis, Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook, and Stephen Morris were a force of creativity — pure and unadulterated. They weren’t just talented, they were in sync, and their tragic gasp of a timeline has nurtured an enduring legacy. “I’ve never been in a group as solid as Joy Division,” Hook recently told Consequence of Sound. “The four members were so balanced and so equal, and their inputs and their creativity were so important to the group as a whole. There were no passengers in Joy Division. It was absolutely perfectly balanced. We never got to appreciate ‘It’ because ‘It’ was overshadowed by Ian’s death.” Editors’ Picks “We didn’t want to become famous and sell millions o...
Paul Banks on Muzz, Mental Health, and More Interpol
Kyle Meredith With… Paul Banks Listen via Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Play | Stitcher | Radio Public | RSS Paul Banks calls up Kyle Meredith about his latest collaborative project Muzz. The Interpol frontman takes us through his history with his new bandmates and explains why trios seem to be his sweet spot these days. Of the lyrical content, we’re told many of the songs deal with mental health and its relationship with art, and were inspired by Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, and Neil Young. Finally, Banks says he wants to make another record with RZA and confirms more Interpol records in the future. Kyle Meredith With… is an interview series in which WFPK’s Kyle Meredith speaks to a wide breadth of musicians. Every Monday,...
Peter Hook to Stream Concert Film Featuring Joy Division’s Entire Catalog
This year marks both the 40th anniversary of Joy Division’s final album, Closer, and the death of late frontman Ian Curtis. The band’s surviving members are commemorating in a number of ways, including a vinyl reissue of the former and a tribute livestream event for the latter. Now we can add a new concert film to that list, as Peter Hook & The Light have announced a stream of the previously unreleased So This Is Permanent. The film captures an exclusive, 500-capacity show that Peter Hook & The Light’s played at Christ Church in Macclesfield, England, Curtis’ hometown in 2015. The special gig saw the the band run through Joy Division’s entire catalog to celebrate what was then the group’s 35th anniversary. Technically, three tracks were released from this show prior to now, but the...
Joy Division’s Closer to Receive 40th Anniversary Vinyl Reissue
In celebration of its 40th anniversary, Joy Division’s Closer is receiving a fresh vinyl reissue. What’s more, a trio of non-album singles — “Love Will Tear Us Apart”, “Transmission”, and “Atmosphere” — will also be re-released as newly remastered 12-inches. Pressed to clear vinyl and available on streaming services, the reissue of the band’s second and final album is due out on July 17th. The 12-inch singles will drop the same day, marking the first time the three tracks have been repressed since Joy Division’s label, Factory Records, shuttered in 1992. Each will be backed by its original B-side: “Transmission” b/w “Novelty”, “Love Will Tear Us Apart” b/w “These Days”, and “Atmosphere” b/w “She’s Lost Control”. Editors’ Picks All the reissues are available for pre-order as a bundle ...
Peter Hook on 40 Years Without Ian Curtis, Working with Gorillaz, and Keeping the Party Going
“The best thing you can do in life is stick on that smile and get out there and enjoy as much as you possibly can,” Peter Hook says over our lunch on Skype. “Because as we’ve seen from the way that you’ve suffered in America — the way that we’ve suffered here in the UK — time can be very short. You don’t know what’s around the corner do you?” With the utmost tragic timing, an alert flashes on my iPhone screen, informing me of the death of Kraftwerk legend Florian Schneider, who I learn has passed away from his battle with cancer. Absolutely destroyed, I tell Hook, who reflects, “There you go Phillip. A prime example isn’t it? Life can be very short. Too short … and not filled with harmony…” Hook knows a thing or two about harmony, both off stage and on it. The veteran musician, who laid do...
