Calling all post-punk obsessees! (Looking for albums that sound like--)

Well, Alex, KoD's definitely influenced by the "spirit" of post-punk, but I think I listed it in the sense that I don't mind hearing albums that fit the sound of what I've described but yet aren't from the particular time period of 78-82 (and yet would still appeal to post-punk obsessees).

Also the Josef K reissue.

Would The Wake's Harmony fit in this sort of mould?

how late are you willing to go? The Ropers' All the Time is a late post-punk classic. could say the same for all the For Against albums - wait until December gets reissued!, the Abecedarians. maybe Snapper's Shotgun Blossom? the two Saqqara Dogs LPs? Factrix?

"deceit" isn't quite serious enough for you?? rowing my own aussie boat yet again - you could try the voigt/465 or scattered order material.

Fits all that nocturnal/emotionally compelling stuff too, the whole album sounds like it was written in a burst of 4am manic energy in the middle of the biggest sulk ever, and the drumming is plain amazing.

This may be stating the obvious, but there's been no mention of the first three Sound LPs (Jeopardy, From The Lion's Mouth, All Fall Down).I've got the latter two of those Sound LPs -- I listen to them pretty frequently.

Fits all that nocturnal/emotionally compelling stuff too, the whole album sounds like it was written in a burst of 4am manic energy in the middle of the biggest sulk ever, and the drumming is plain amazing.

From your description, it sounds exactly like what I'm looking for.

The Lines-Therapy
The Lines-Ultramarine
The Lines-Nerve Pylon 7"
The Lines-Transit 7"

to a lesser degree(not to say these aren't as good, some are better, they just don't fit your description as well, though I think you'd enjoy all the same):

The Lines-Cool Snap EP
The Lines-On the Air 7"
The Lines-White Night 7"
The Lines-House of Cracks 12"

You problably know them already, but perhaps: 3 Swimmers stuff might fit the bill, and it's pretty good. Later Blackouts, too. I really love Colin Newman's mid-80s records, especially 'Commercial Suicide'. Dunno if you'd count OMD's 'Dazzle Ships'. Teardrop Explodes 'Wilder' is very underrated, twenty times better than 'Kilimanjaro'. A Certain Ratio's 'To Each,' The Creature's first EP and LP, some 100 Flowers, Bunnydrums, Dif Juz, Durruti Column's 'LC,' Empire, Eyeless in Gaza, early Felt, Jerry Harrison's 'Red and the Black,' Matt Johnson's solo record, early KUKL, some of the Material singles, some Tuxedomoon, Virgin Prunes in general, early Swans. . .

Bear in mind, anthem-level Echo/U2 is about my least favourite permutation of post-punk. I don't really love Joy Division much, and hate all of their less-talented followers (Pin Group). I do love Comsats and Siouxsie and the Cure and Depeche Mode.

a few more. i know i'm still forgetting some recent contenders

Trisomie 21 - first two albums, reissued as First Songs I+II, are like a psychedelic Closer. fantastic. after that, T21 gets really erratic (and their vocalist can be insufferable).

Lowlife - why has no one reissued their early LPs? Permanent Sleep rules.

Wild Swans - oft overshadowed by the Bunnymen. vigilant Sound archivists Renascent gave them their due with the Incandescent collection. does Sire still own Bringing Home the Ashes?

Royal Family & The Poor - never sustained greatness for an LP, and disappeared up their own yelworCian arses, but still worth remembering.

The Serenes - not so driving - more Kitchens/Chams-meets-Bats - pop-leaning Belgian postpunk. Barefoot and Pregnant is such a beautiful album.

Whipping Boy have their moments.

don't forget the 4AD-era albums of Modern English.

I don't know Urban Verbs, no.

I really think Lowlife would be right up your alley, Ian. I assume you know that Will Heggie left Cocteaus after Garlands to be in that band. Dark stuff. Here's a site about them: http://www.permanentsleep.com/band.html

Have you heard Drowning Craze, the band Simon Raymonde was in before Cocteaus? Not mindblowing, but not bad either. They never released a whole album, though.

Sad Lovers & Giants are a good thing to try, too. Can't recommend Modern English's Mesh & Lace highly enough. Don't miss the first two Felt albums, either.

"deceit" isn't quite serious enough for you??
No, I didn't mean that -- I'm just not looking for anything that experimental in nature.

Ha ha! I tried this album recently and felt the same way.

echoingrove is going to find one day that I've snuck into his house locked myself in a room with his record collection. Don't say I didn't warn you!

How's that Lines CD coming along Dan?

The Pin Group was the punk/post-punk band featuring Roy Montgomery from 81 or whenever. Montgomery was later in Dadamah which was quite hip in the 90s, and he got super active with side-projects like Dissolve and work with Flying Saucer Attack. Scenes from the South Island and Temple IV were both great instrumental records, And Now the Rain has some nice moody vocal stuff, not unlike how Durutti Column albums would feature a few brilliant songs amidst the instrumental excersises.

While on this subject(New Zealand...) all must get what they can by Nocturnal Projections, Peter and Graeme Jefferies pre-This Kind of Punishment post-punk band. There was a CD that compiled most of it. A single, an EP, a cassette. Then a friend burned me all of that and some more. At it's best, it's absolutely some of the very best post-Joy Division post-punk rock. Like if Joy Division were still called Warsaw in 1981.

I couldn't recommend it enough.

I've been wanting to check out Lowlife and Drowning Craze for a long while. I haven't heard any Puressence, no. I actually listen to Three Times and Waving more than The Glass Bead Game -- usually because I have to be in a certain dark mood for the latter (despite it being the better album to me) and I'm usually in a mood for the former. I don't really like Felt.

Bunch of NZ stuff too - early Chill, Look Blue Go Purple.

One more thing, I remember the eighties when every town had about five bands like this and people called them "gay".....

IR-M was into for against too iirc

The Opposition - Breaking The Silence. Pathetically unknown, just a notch below the Comsats in terms of style. Go listen to some samples on Redsun.com.

I'd like to mention The Lines again.

i recently heard an album by a late 70s band called apartment, most of the album was fairly mediocre but there was one fantastic song 'shot down' that was very lines-esque.

Really loving Breathless's Chasing Promises lately. I can't believe the guitarist is a Ramleh/Skullflower guy.

I belatedly stumbled onto Breathless just a week ago, and have since been binge listening to all their stuff, along with And Also The Trees, Opposition and Lowlife. Kind of blows my mind how I've missed out on those bands for so long. I'd only really heard of And Also The Trees and Lowlife previously. I partly blame Ira Robbins, as the Trouser Press bible completely ignored all those bands. I'd have thought Jack Rabid would have at least championed some of them. I guess they possibly thought they were too derivative? Maybe it's like the another sub-genre, doom metal, in that not all metalheads or even Black Sabbath fans get into doom because, at least at first, the bands took such a singular approach in distilling just one of many of Sabbath's aspects of plod and despair, but not necessarily the hooks. These so-called second-tier post-punk bands perhaps do a similar thing with elements of Joy Division, Echo, Comsat Angels, etc. It takes a special kind of fan to take this stuff in album-length doses. I'm enjoying them!

I've covered most of the other bands mentioned in this thread on my Bucket O' Nasties radio show in 1988-92, and about 9 years ago focused exclusively on the bands in this thread on a Live 365 channel. These bands have quite the extensive catalogs, several are currently active recent releases. While most seem to have suffered typical "wilderness years" syndrome in the 90s, many sound rejuvenated on this past decade's efforts. No mention has been made of any of them here, and would be curious what folks think of them.

And Also The Trees - Hunter Not The Hunted (2012)
Breathless - Green To Blue (2012)
Modern English - Soundtrack (2010)
And Also The Trees - When The Rain Comes (2009)
For Against - Never Been (2009)
For Against - Shade Side Sunny Side (2008)
Opposition - Blinder (2003)
Breathless - Behind The Light (2003)
Sad Lover & Giants - Melting In The Fullness Of Time (2002)

Unfortunately Lowlife can't reunite as Craig Lorentson died in 2010. The next best option, or perhaps it'll prove to be the most effective way to get some belated recognition is to do a documentary. They snagged the tagline, the "greatest post-punk band you've never heard," which sounds to me like a great poll idea...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nysW3Orn2Ic&feature=youtu.be

The makers of the upcoming documentary “Eternity Road: The Story of Lowlife” — chronicling the cult Scottish band that formed in 1984 and released its final album a decade later — promise to expose “the greatest post-punk band you never heard” through rare footage and interviews with band members, family and fellow musicians.

Director David Bruggink, who is co-producing the film with original Lowlife guitarist Stuart Everest, tells Slicing Up Eyeballs he hopes to begin production this summer with an eye toward a 2014 release. He expects to create a longer, 90-minute version to be screened at film festivals and released on DVD, plus a shorter version that the producers will shop to television.

Bruggink said he’s not yet sure whether he and Everest — who left the band after its second album — will finance the project through private funding or use the ever-popular Kickstarter to solicit donations from boosters. For now, Lowlife fans can track the project via the documentary’s Facebook page, and check out the short teaser trailer that’s posted above.

Between 1985 and 1995, Lowlife — which featured original Cocteau Twins bassist Will Heggie and was managed by Brian Guthrie, brother of the Cocteaus’ Robin Guthrie — released five albums and a number of EPs before disbanding around 1997.

The band’s story ultimately has a tragic ending, though, as lead singer Craig Lorentson, whose deep baritone helped give Lowlife its signature sound, died in 2010 at the age of 44 after suffering from liver and kidney problems.

http://youtu.be/nysW3Orn2Ic

Lowlife were fantastic. I'm surprised you missed them as Will Heggie formed them after the first Cocteau Twins album and took his signature bass sound with him. The early stuff is the best but "San Antorium" is almost as good.

The Opposition - we're talking about the band that released "Breaking The Silence", right? I associate them with The Sound in my mind, similar sound and powerful lyrics. "The Paddy Fields" off their debut is quite affecting. Their first 3 or 4 albums are all excellent, though sadly only the debut is in print.

Breathless never did it for me, his lisp bugged the hell out of me.

And Also The Trees - I like bits here and there, never dug deeper than the early singles though.

I know, on one hand I'm like, what have I been doing? I should give up! On the other hand I live for these surprises. Do you think San Antorium is better than Godhead?

I haven't seen "the" used on the album art images for Opposition, but yeah same band. I don't think that 2001 reissue is in print anymore. If you know where I can find one for less than 25 USD, let me know! Looks like another good opportunity for reissues of all their stuff and Modern Eon's Fiction Tales by LTM or Captured Tracks. Captured Tracks is reissuing the For Against albums, even though the Words On Music reissues from 2005 are still easily available.

I haven't listened to those Lowlife albums since LTM reissued them but I think the breadth of "Godhead" was better but the highlights of "San Antorium" stuck in my head longer. Both worthy acquisitions.

Looks like you're right about Opposition's "Breaking The Silence", that's a shame. One of my most favorite unknown post-punk albums. It's worth 25 bucks!

Modern Eon, hell yeah, I've got a needledrop but a proper reissue would be most welcome!

Another recent one I forgot about:

The Wild Swans - The Coldest Winter For a Hundred Years (2011)

I concur re: Sad Lovers and Giants. They put put out an amazing 7" in the early 80's called "The Things We Never Did" Still love it to this day. And the "Epic Garden Music" LP.

Also, not sure if they've been mentioned yet but the Noseflutes sound like they might be up this guys alley.

i've posted at length about for against here, i think they are one of the greatest bands of all time. i believe there's supposed to be a new album at some point soon

CT is only doing vinyl editions of the early albums at this point afaik.

I had stuff from Sad Lovers and the related band Snakes Corps but sold it years ago, never grabbed me aside from a track or two. Same with Wild Swans, never understood the fuss.

I've tried For Against periodically, most recently a friend made me a career spanning comp. Still didn't grab me, though they KILLED the one time I saw them live.

Eyeless In Gaza got mentioned upthread and are still going strong. Saw them in London in the summer in front of just a handful of folks, so great...

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

Dark Entries will be reissuing the Thing from the Crypt LP soon. Great Sad Lovers & Giants there. Better version of "Clint."

A current band that's definitely carrying the torch is The Soft Moon on the Captured Tracks label.

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

In my collection I file the sorts of bands mentioned in the OP as "proto-gothic", to distinguish them from Gang of Four/Pop Groups/Slits/Delta 5 etc. post-punk. In that category I highly recommend the recently defunct These Are Powers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5JUATl4rUM

I need to get that new Breathless album. Between Happiness and Heartache and Blue Moon were fantastic but I couldn't get into the one they put out a few years ago. Still, good to hear they're still plugging away.

I had literally never even heard of Sad Lovers & Giants, and I took a chance on a used LP of Feeding the Flame just because it looked cool and seemed from the right era. It's an astonishing record. I cannot recommend it more strongly to people looking for stuff in this vein. This thread has given me a bunch of leads, so thanks.

There's also a super-obscure husband and wife duo named The Lives of Angels who just had their record reissued a few months back--well worth checking out. Like the triangulation of prime Felt, early New Order, and Neu's poppiest moments.

seeing soft moon this weekend, pretty excited!

Thing from the Crypt is my fav post-punk comp that was actually made in the post-punk era. Great mix of tossed off DIY and more fully realized stuff, thus summing up the spirit of the age.

^^^ thanks for the tip. Listening to bits now and loving it.

One I kinda like is Bouquet Of Steel. Not all great, but as you said, spirit of the age.

http://mutant-sounds.blogspot.com/2007/01/va-bouquet-of-steel-1980-shefield.html

Both those comps are excellent, as is the Messthetics series which mines that sort of thing for the best bits.

Gerald I saw elsewhere your mention of the reissue of Nyam Nyam - Hope Of Heaven (1984) on LTM. Recommended?

In my collection I file the sorts of bands mentioned in the OP as "proto-gothic", to distinguish them from Gang of Four/Pop Groups/Slits/Delta 5 etc. post-punk.

Speaking of sorting/tagging, I've seen some of this stuff tagged as "dark wave." I've resisted it, but it might be useful to distinguish from other post-punk. Which do you think The Passage should fit?

bright wave?

Here's the Wiki entry:

"The term was coined in Europe in the 1980s to describe a dark and melancholy variant of New Wave and post-punk music, such as gothic rock and dark synthpop, and was first applied to musicians such as Bauhaus,[6] Joy Division,[7][8][9] The Cure,[8][10] Siouxsie and the Banshees,[8] Depeche Mode[11] and The Chameleons.[8]

The movement spread internationally, spawning such developments as French coldwave. Coldwave described groups such as KaS Product,[12] Martin Dupont, Asylum Party, Norma Loy, Pavillon 7B, Résistance, Clair Obscur, Opera Multi Steel, The Breath of Life, and Trisomie 21. Subsequently, different dark wave genres merged and influenced each other, e.g. electronic New Wave music (also called Electro Wave in Germany) with gothic rock, or used elements of ambient and post-industrial music. Attrition,[13] In The Nursery and Pink Industry (UK), Clan of Xymox (Netherlands), Mittageisen (Switzerland),[14] Die Form (France), and Psyche (Canada) played this music in the 1980s. German dark wave groups of the 1980s were associated with the Neue Deutsche Welle, and included Asmodi Bizarr, II. Invasion, Unlimited Systems, Mask For, Moloko †, Maerchenbraut,[15] and Xmal Deutschland."

There's also a super-obscure husband and wife duo named The Lives of Angels who just had their record reissued a few months back--well worth checking out. Like the triangulation of prime Felt, early New Order, and Neu's poppiest moments.

Yeah, the Nyam Nyam CD from LTM is recommended - it's definitely in the vein of what we're talking about albeit 2nd tier. The highs are really good, though.

Really enjoying this Lives of Angels album, great combination of nice synthetic drum sounds with a very warm almost early Flying Nun-ish vibe to the guitars and vocals. Oddly enough I already had it playlisted in spotify cos iirc the guy from Silent Servant had it on his EOY list.

Whole thing is here btw if anyone else is interested: http://open.spotify.com/album/6riVyzZoXCZLZ1QO3LQIaW

Imperial Motors sounds so good right now

I've been working on a piece related to all this, and coincidentally stumbled on a Kickstarter campaign for <i>Post-Punk</i> magazine that ends in 26 hours. They're not close at all to the $85,000 goal. I wonder if they'll still try to at least put out an issue with other funds. I'd love to see a magazine like that.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1972659345/post-punk-magazine

Really enjoying this Lives of Angels album, great combination of nice synthetic drum sounds with a very warm almost early Flying Nun-ish vibe to the guitars and vocals. Oddly enough I already had it playlisted in spotify cos iirc the guy from Silent Servant had it on his EOY list.

― a la recherche du tempbans perdu (NickB), Wednesday, January 23, 2013 12:12 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Glad you like, and I can see the Flying Nun thing too. This sound is basically catnip to me.

http://fastnbulbous.com/the-greatest-post-punk-bands-you-never-heard/

I'll have a mix uploaded soon too.

Really enjoying this Lives of Angels album, great combination of nice synthetic drum sounds with a very warm almost early Flying Nun-ish vibe to the guitars and vocals. Oddly enough I already had it playlisted in spotify cos iirc the guy from Silent Servant had it on his EOY list.

― a la recherche du tempbans perdu (NickB), Wednesday, January 23, 2013 12:12 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Sold! Been really digging Silent Servant's FACT mix from last year for some icy/chugging 80s sounds (both of the time and revival):
https://soundcloud.com/selftitledmag/fact-mix-349-silent-servant

(this is sort of not the right thread and sort of the rightest thread there is, I guess)

oh nice - thanks aps :)

here's his end of year list btw:
http://boomkat.com/collections/juan-mendez-silent-servant-2012-chart

Fastnbulbous: awesome piece, thanks. Can't wait to dig into some of these... If you all like Silent Servant, definitely listen to last year's Negative Fascination LP.

Trop Tard is a good thing to check out after the Lives of Angels one, but it's rather more of a cold and gothy sound that they've got going on. And that Trevor Jackson Presents Metal Dance set is great too, very much on the same sort of lines as that mix you just posted (Cabs, 400 Blows, DAF etc) xp

haven't had the chance to read the fastnbulbous entry yet, but skimmed it just now it looks ganz wunderbar

I know they were briefly mentioned upthread, but The Wake were really terrific. Here Comes Everybody is a great place to start.

Thanks, whenever I do a piece like this, it costs me, as I feel compelled to buy CDs of the faves. I ended up ordering about 16 CDs through ImportCDs, Amazon and CDBaby. I even found Opposition - Breaking The Silence at http://www.redsunrecords.com/product_info.php?products_id=4. However with shipping and exchange rate is about $30 USD, ouch! Since I spent so much already I can't justify that one!

xp Silent Servant did indeed make my year-end lists!

Here's the poll!

The Greatest Post-Punk Bands You Never Heard

Liking the Lives of Angels (also Fastnbulbous's article, thanks!). But I'm posting this here so as not to clutter the poll thread with talk of bands not on the poll - if you like LoA you may like Victrola, an Italian band who as far as I can tell put out one single in 1983 and then disappeared:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QT6ji9E9ChA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqR0-yA8DXo

Coldwave/minimal wave (I guess) with dirgy vocals and beautiful sheets of crystalline guitars.

So many great records in 1983, can't believe they all turn 30 years old this year.

thanks for posting those, both great!

Not sure what's going on with Red Sun Records - I ordered something from them, sent them numerous e-mails when it never came, reversed the charge with the credit card company. Never heard a peep from RSR. Which is odd because I've ordered from them numerous times without issue.

Funny, I got an email from Red Sun asking why I put that Opposition CD in the cart but didn't pull the trigger. My response was, dudes, $30 USD! I was almost considering it, but now I'm definitely not ordering it.

Looks like a lot of folks have participated and voted in the poll, thanks! It closes Friday I imagine UK midnight time.