Post punk generally refers to the particularly fertile and creative period following the initial UK punk rock 'explosion', roughly spanning 1978-1982. If the first wave of punk bands such as The Censored page, The Clash, The Damned, etc tore up the rule book, then the bands that followed were able to explore, experiment and innovate in the spaces they opened up.

Typically more introverted, arty and experimental than classic punk rock or the more pop oriented New Wave music, post punk laid the groundwork for "alternative rock" by broadening the idea of what punk and underground music could do, incorporating a variety of other styles and inventing new ones. It found a firm place in the 1980s college rock scene, and left behind several major sub genres (notably, goth rock and emo). However, post punk's biggest influence remains in the vast variety of sounds and styles it pioneered, many of which proved very influential in the later alternative rock scene.

Championed by late night BBC disc jockey John Peel and record label/shop Rough Trade (amongst others- including Postcard Records , Factory Records, Falling A Records, Fast Product, Mute Records, etc, etc), "post punk" could arguably be said to encompass many diverse groups and musicians. In the list that follows, it should be noted that some of these groups were contemporary with or predated the period given above for the punk music proper. Also, many have also considered as being members of other genres in addition to post punk, such as punk and new wave amongst others.

In 2003 and 2004, the term post punk began to appear in the music press again, with some critics reviving the label to describe a new set of bands that shared some of the aesthetics of the original post punk era. 21st century bands described as "post punk" have included Franz Ferdinand, Interpol, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Metric, The Killers, The Weakerthans and The Stills. Other critics simply labelled the bands modern rock, alongside pop punk acts such as Green Day, Good Charlotte, Sum 41 and The Ataris, or as indie rock. Unlike the original post punk artists, however, these bands were not generally underground artists, but were instead simply a variant within the dominant commercial style of rock music.

See also: Industrial music, Cassette culture.

Post punk bands

• 23 Skidoo
• A Certain Ratio
• And The Native Hipsters
• Au Pairs
• Bauhaus
• The Birthday Party
• Cabaret Voltaire
• Chameleons UK
• Crass
• The Cure
• Cultural Amnesia
• Delta Five
• Depeche Mode
• Devo
• The Durutti Column
• Echo & the Bunnymen
• Einstürzende Neubauten
• Elti Fits
• Essential Logic
• Factrix
• The Fall
• The Fire Engines
• Flogging Molly
• Flying Lizards
• Fugazi
• Gang of Four
• The Human League
• insane picnic
• Josef K
• Joy Division
• Killing Joke
• The Lemon Kittens
• Magazine
• The Mekons
• Mission of Burma
• New Order
• Orange Juice
• John Otway
• Pere Ubu
• Pink Military
• Poison Girls
• The Pop Group
• Psychedelic Furs
• Public Image Ltd.
• Q and not U
• The Raincoats
• Red Crayola
• R.E.M.
• Rema Rema
• Scritti Politti
• Siouxsie and the Banshees
• The Smiths
• Spasmodic Caress
• Suicide
• Swans
• Swell Maps
• The Slits
• Stripey Zebras
• This Heat
• Throbbing Gristle
• Tuxedomoon
• Winston Tong
• Wire
• Young Marble Giants

External links

• Drop Dead Festival http://dropdeadfestival.com
• NY Decay http://nydecay.com
• Phantom Creep Friday http://www.phantomcreepfriday.com
• Winston Tong http://winstontong.sevcom.com
• Factrix http://geocities.com/[email protected]

Punk rock | Punk genres
Anarcho-punk - Crust punk - Gothic rock - Hardcore - Horror punk - New Wave - No Wave - Oi - Pop punk - Post punk - Riot grrl - Ska punk
Anti-folk - Death rock - Psychobilly - Two Tone
Other topics
DIY - Punk pioneers - First wave - Second wave - Punk cities - Punk movies - Skinhead - Skinhead films - Ska