The Greatest Post-Punk Bands You Never Heard

Voting Lilliput/Kleenex, the same way I voted for "Surfin' Bird" on the other thread.

Yeah, full disclosure suggests I should admit to being in the middle of trying to reissue everything by the Sunday Painters, as great an unreissued art punk band as I know. Sorry for using this space promotionally....Seemed sort of the right audience.

And if I were to attempt a quick distinction between art punk and post punk, it'd have to do with the centrality and distortion of the guitars. Of course, some bands wander across the line repeatedly. Or pass through one on the way to the other. As with...

The cd of Wire demos, Behind the Curtain, is maybe the best instruction manual. Several demos from each period: they go from thrash, to pub, to punk, to art punk, to post punk, to experimental in three years and thirty songs.... Ontology recapitulating phylogeny. Out of print, I'm sure, but well worth tracking down. includes many album songs, but without the keyboards and production, which is often a very nice thing.

Co-sign Wire's "Behind The Curtain". Shockingly great versions, and one or two tracks they never recorded I believe. Very few bands demos are worth more than a single listen, this album get regular plays. Indeed it is way out of print, going for a minimum of $30. Pity.

Would make an excellent double Lp these days.

How do you know they're great if you haven't heard them?

Most people in general haven't heard most of the bands, but this is ILM, where most people have heard some, and as grown-ass music nerds in 2013 are fully capable of giving at least a handful a listen if they're so inclined. Handholding and spoonfeeding even including providing a mix with 13 of the bands. Youtube links galore upthread, and some are on Spotify. I don't know what else to tell ya. Poll ends in a few hours.

xp Behind the Curtain used to be pretty widely available. I have it and am happy to hook up anyone who wants a rip. I should give it a listen today, Wire are one of my all-time faves. Their new album Change Becomes Us comes out March 25. Hope it's good!

Thanks for sharing news about Sunday Painters, it's absolutely welcome here. This poll has exceeded expectations, turning into a goldmine of recommendations beyond the list I did my best to come up with. If there's enough interest perhaps someday there can be a proper Greatest Post-Punk Albums poll with nominations and up to 50 album ballots.

And don't get Dan and me started on Nocturnal Projections, NZ's best post punkers. That cd is out of print, too. Dont know what it goes for now. Time for a double Lp?

I must MUST track down Behind the Curtain. I didn't even know it existed!

Has anyone mentioned the Homosexuals? That multi-disc comp from several years back is pretty cool (headed out the door and blanking on title, sorry). Some of it goes back so far, maybe not so much post-punk as para-punk. Also, since Theoretical Girls came up, should we conaider no wave? If Mars and DNA are too radical for this loose round-up, maybe Contortions/James White & The Blacks, Material, some of the bands Arthur Russell passed though?

Also, early Flesheaters, when they incl. members of X and the Blasters: punk, in terms of abrasive elements, like some sounds associated withe wilder side of early "roots", also with free jazz, lurid/ominous/deadpan camp b-movie imagery, grooves best danced to/in when really blitzed, which danceablity, though challenging, can be part of the "post-" (some long live performances posted in YouTube from time to time)

xposts then you probably don't know about "Turns and Strokes" either?

http://www.discogs.com/Wire-Turns-And-Strokes/release/1871722

The Homosexuals were absolutely my favorite for a long time and I was really obsessed with their various incarnations and off-shoots and trying to learn about them. There was so much mystery back in the day that people really didn't even know what was or wasn't a Homosexuals release, or if something was related or not. Unfortunately I have to say I don't listen as much any more. It's kind of strange. The Homosexuals and Arthur Russell were two MAJOR obsessions of mine that were not shared by many people. I assure you I didn't stop listening because they suddenly became familiar to your listener, I just think I overdid it. I compiled a 2cd Homosexuals CD-r that I used to trade which became canon prior to the release of the ReR/Morphius "Record" CD and Chuck's Astral Glamour. The funny story there is that some of the material had come from a guy I knew who wrote for Perfect Sound Forever and he had gotten a CDr from Johan Kugelberg. Johan had put a version of Rainy Day Sunshine Girl as recorded by one of his bands or a friends band or something on the CD, so by the time I got it I was like "omg The Homosexuals covering Faust, and not sounding like the Homosexuals one bit!" and put it on my best-of, so for years during the soulseek days people thought that was the Homosexuals. It was only way later when Chuck was working on the CD that he asked Bruno and Bruno was like, "that's not us" and Chuck asked me about it did I realize my complicity in the spreading of misinformation.

I helped out on Astral Glamour. At 1 point Chuck was going to release it through Acute but things got confusing. I did a couple comps for the cover design, which somewhat influenced (but isn't) the final cover, so I get credit in the liner notes.

Wire's "Turns And Strokes" is decidedly less critical than "Behind The Curtain". It's a companion piece to "Document And Eyewitness", which I find unrewarding. The best thing about it is that it has the final studio b-sides before they broke up the first time.

Nocturnal Projections! Brilliant band, yes. I can only find the CD on discogs.com or $60+. It wasn't even a complete anthology. Someone needs to put that out, and probably a good Peter Jefferies career overview as well.

Yeah, "Turns and Strokes" is kinda rubbish

Michael gave me Graeme Jefferies contact info years ago and I wrote him then annoyingly waited too long to follow up and missed our chance. Maybe I'll suggest it to Captured Tracks.

Finished listening to the "expanded" Wanna Buy A Bridge. The version of "Sugar Sugar" is loopy but holy cow the Epic Soundtracks/Robert Wyatt "Jelly Babies" is stunning! As far as I can tell it only just got a CD release on the recent Epic anthology.

Sugar Sugar is def a stretch, but I love it and thought it was a fun excursion. I was turned onto it by Danny Wang. Or I turned him onto it. I can't remember. Gamson had one other song I know of, No Turn on Red, which was on one of the NME comps and a sorta new wave dance comp from the early 80s. After that I think he moved to New York and collaborated with Green on Scritti Politti's big hits.

but holy cow the Epic Soundtracks/Robert Wyatt "Jelly Babies" is stunning! As far as I can tell it only just got a CD release on the recent Epic anthology.

It was supposed to have been included on a Robert Wyatt anthology, Flotsam Jetsam, and appeared on early publicity sheet track listings. But didn't make it on the CD.

Hah, just looked up that RW anthology and it goes for stupid money, too. I thought CDs were supposed to be dirt cheap these days! ;-)

Speaking of those long live Flesheaters experiences, there's the punk-associated tradition that goes against punk austerity: the jam, man. Or at least, the performance outward bound, however covertly charted or not. Thinking of Velvets, 10-60-75 The Numbers Band, ca. Jimmy Bell's Still In Town (they did some more compact stuff later), Television, Sonic Youth---UK in this vein--?

I feel like Polyrock should be on this list.

oh yeah, I never heard them much--did see an early long video performance, "live" or live (fancy lighting, no audible/visible audience). Produced by/some kind of connection to Philip Glass, right?

First album co-produced by Glass, yeah. Unlike many of the bands above they made it to the US hinterlands, so I saw them twice in Minneapolis.

^^^ Second album also, I guess.

Just checking some of these posts out. The Dif Juz was incredible and I liked Asylum Party. Rema Rema s/t I would have sworn was mid-80s Fall. Obviously S Reynolds' hypothesis about this era of music is crude, and I am biased because I was a teenager then, but its relentless experimentation has left a legacy of unearthed treasures, some of which I am hearing for the first time and are startlingly good. So thank you Fastnbulbous for starting this thread.

I snatched up the reissue of The Homosexuals' Record (1984) when it came out because it was in The Wire's piece from the '90s, 100 Records That Set The World On Fire While No One Was Listening. It must not have sunk in as I forgot about it.

1. The Homosexuals Record is just a portion of the story, and while it was the most well known example for a long time, it lacks several of their best songs, all of which are on the Astral Glamour set.

2. Spend more time with them.

Here's a song not on the Homosexuals Record:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8aVutmoGSw&playnext=1&list=PL0840F7495337906A&feature=results_video

The one-two punch of "Prestel" into "You're not moving the way you are supposed to" is as fine a combination as art punk ever landed. Get the 3CD set; the Homsexuals cd lacks A lot. Though of course the triple cd overwhelms.

another one not on the single cd:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KARcDGfcj4

missing from poll: icicle works. i fucking love icicle works!

love that Sara Goes Pop release, that's essentially a Homosexuals record, no?

Yeah me too, I even have the deluxe reissue of The Small Price of a Bicycle! But you know, "Birds Fly (Whisper To A Scream)" pretty much rules them out as being unheard just like Modern English's "I'll Melt With You." Songs beyond those hits may be underappreciated.

xp Sirs, yes sirs, I'll get right on that. Seriously, I will check out more Homosexuals soon.

So a few more minutes to go but I gotta catch a train. Who's gonna win? Probably Liliput/Kleenex followed by Essential Logic and Pylon?

interesting - i never knew Birds Fly was a hit in any context. amazing song either way!

I am biased because I was a teenager then, but its relentless experimentation has left a legacy of unearthed treasures, some of which I am hearing for the first time and are startlingly good.

Dr. X O and I are on the exact same page. The "relentless experimentation" is what I miss the most. I know it's there in young bands, and I do run across it from time to time, but in the original era it was almost expected that bands would progress from album to album and experiment with different angles/sound/approaches. The goal wasn't to sound like their heroes, it was to integrate different things into something new.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Icicle Works biggest hit by far in the UK was Love Is A Wonderful Colour which went Top 20 here. I do think it's a lesser song than Birds Fly which is just fantastic, but it's a good one all the same. Hollow Horse, Seven Horses and When It All Comes Down are all top notch too. Anyhow, they were fairly big for a while and sat nicely alongside other psychedelic Liverpool stuff like the Bunnymen, Julian Cope, Wild Swans/Lotus Eaters etc.

The Wake def deserve their one vote, tho I prefer their kinda-shoegazy Sarah records to most of their 80s stuff.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUtGA0rVxjY

You prefer that to this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WO2odzxUsoI

And I like Pylon well enough, but they were one-tenth the band Liliput was. Odd result.

You prefer that to this? - yes, tho that track has its charms! tbh I'm kinda Sarah-biased in general.

Well, to each his own. They made larger gestures in the early 80s....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13DZ9O_uY0w

I just missed the cutoff, my Pylon vote would have put them over the top. As a longtime fan and Randy Bewley disciple, I don't think my vote could have gone anywhere else. I need Liliput and Embarrassment comps; fascinating bands I haven't heard enough by. A lot of Sad Lovers and Giants-type stuff I dismissed as too mopey back in the day sounds better to me now, but still lacks most of the prickly abrasion I love in bands like Delta 5 and Essential Logic. The Individuals, whatever their genre tag, still sound fucking great to me.

I'm with Pillbox re: The Wake. I never could get into their first two albums, preferring their Sarah period. But just barely, they're decidedly 3rd tier for me.

better showing for Virgin Prunes than I expected!

Pylon were talked up big time by R.E.M. for much of the 80s, but their stuff was impossible to find for a long time, which made their reissues kind of exciting. I like 'em but yeah they're more middle of pack for me. When all the Liliput/Kleenex stuff was first reissued on CD back in '93 by the Swiss Off Course label I was so freakin' excited because I'd only had a couple compilation tracks before that. It was definitely a Raincoats-level of revelation for me. I'll listen to them tonight in tribute!

Acute gets 3 votes. 4 if you count The Nightingales.

I forgot to do this earlier, I'd really be interested to see what Post-Punk magazine would be like, so I'm plugging their funding campaign: http://www.indiegogo.com/post-punk

I mentioned in my piece that their Kickstarter campaign didn't succeed but they're trying again with more marketing push. I'm still pondering which amount to give.

Give til it hurts, you goth wannabe!

Seriously, though, that mag looks great, though could it match the quality of writing on this board (The Associates thread is my all-time favorite).

PS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_gAVZBKoMI