My name is Kris Kane and I would like to tell you a bit about Post-Punk.
Post-Punk is a genre of music as well as a subculture. Post-Punk has been of great influence to me. In some ways it was an evolution of punk, in other ways it came as a result of the death of punk.
The name of the subculture itself tells you exactly what it is, the thing that came post-punk. To understand post punk subculture it is important to look at where it started and why it started. Post punk is an excellent example of a Geographical Subculture.
In large post-punk was only found in the North of Britain, cities such as Manchester, Leeds and Sheffield. It’s true to say that in later years the music and some of the post punk ideology spread globally, but in the sense of the subculture itself, it always stayed very location specific. The reason for this was that these northern settlements were the home of post-industrial Britain.
Factories were closing, unemployment was reaching record figures, dereliction was abundant, poverty was in the air and depression, both mentally and economically, was everywhere.
A number of factors were to blame for this monotone environment.
The Labour party had been in power since the 1975 election, the country was suffering from industrial disputes, strikes and a rising number of unemployment. Worst affected were the working class, members of unions who were having to strike in order to get better pay and benefits from the government for their manual work.
In 1979 Margaret Thatcher came in to power with the Conservative Party, at this time things were starting to go very wrong for working class Britain. Mrs Thatcher began to introduce ideas such as free-markets and entrepreneurialism to Britain, moving industry away from the UK and encouraging companies to build alliances with newly industrialising countries, such as China and Taiwan. In doing this many cities built around the employment factories had to offer began to decay. Communities began to suffer as factories closed and in turn unemployment levels increased.
Another factor, which added a further shade of grey to this period of social change, was the fear of nuclear war. Between 1976 and 1980, America and the Soviet Union were locked in a cold war, on the edge atomic warfare.
Post-punk took concepts of the punk subculture, in particular the DIY lifestyle.
People began to write and publish their own magazines, these became known as fanzines. In these fanzines people had the freedom to write whatever they wanted, poetry, reviews, lyrics, observational writing.
“In the post-punk era several well-written fanzines emerged that cast an almost academic look at earlier, neglected musical forms, including Mike Stax' Ugly Things, Billy Miller and Miriam Linna's Kicks”
Bands began to record and release their own music. Indie labels were born, cutting out the need for middleman record labels. Most noteworthy of the post-punk era is Factory Records.
“Factory Records used a creative team, most notably record producer Martin Hannett and graphic designer Peter Saville, which gave the label, and the artists recording for it, a particular sound and image.”
Artists began to display work outside of galleries, moving art into nightclubs or derelict buildings.
The post-punk fashion sense was quite a restricted one. The people involved in the subculture had little money to spend, so there was no time for lavish or eccentric style.
Instead the typical post-punk associate would be found clad in quite average apparel. Post-punk fashion was identified more by its colour than actual appearance. The essential post-punk wardrobe would contain a range of grey, black and generally dull coloured garments. Minimalism was an obvious feature as well; perhaps one or two grey button-up shirts, a pair of black working slacks and a hand-me down trench coat. The image was utilitarian to say the least.
Musically post-punk offered a massive step in evolution, it is often considered the missing link between the punk rock of the seventies and the alternative rock of the nineties:
“Post-Punk, a more adventurous and arty form of punk, no less angry or political but often more musically complex and diverse. Many of these groups, like Joy Division or the Cure, created dark, synthesizer-oriented soundscapes while others, like Orange Juice or XTC, had a lighter guitar-based musical approach but their lyrics and music were off-kilter and often subverted traditional pop/rock song structures.”
This post-punk genre, lifestyle and mentality is still alive today and can be found in cities throughout the world.
I hope this has been a concise yet informative read.
Many thanks,
Kris Kane