Tag: post-punk

697. Mission of Burma

~ ernopepper ~ Leave a comment

(December 2025) Episode 697 is MISSION OF BURMA. The last episode was on Roger Miller, so naturally I turn to the other Roger Miller, frontman for Mission of Burma. They were big in Boston in the early 80s and apparently a very loud live act. This is post-punk: more of a raucous sonic assault than traditional rock but less aggressive and fast than punk. I wasn’t into it at the time, and while I’ve become more exposed, I’m less sold than I think should be. Mission of Burma had a brief recording career, but reunited in the Oughts with some good albums, notably The Obliterati.

Favorite album: vs.

Favorite song: Max Ernst

Compared to expectations: ↓

Recommendation: The first EP and LP are their core sound, but the later albums are surprisingly good for a reunited band.

538. The Stranglers

~ ernopepper ~ 2 Comments

(December 2023) Episode 538 is THE STRANGLERS. I have this odd fascination with the late 1970s UK musical moment, when vocalists chose to assert rather than deemphasize their British accents; Johnny Rotten’s God Save the Queen being a prime example. The Stranglers were among the burst of groups that emerged from the punk or punk-adjacent scene featuring angular and bass-driven beats and think accents: Wire, The Jam, Buzzcocks, The Clash, Gang of Four, the Damned, etc. Lovely stuff. The Stranglers’ first three albums are classics of this style, but they also stood apart, neither political nor in-your-face. Their sound evolved over the years, not chasing fads but also not plowing new ground. They’ve stayed active until the present, and while the recordings are successively less interesting, they’re not bad. “Golden Brown” is both their most popular and most unusual song with its neo-baroque pop sound.

Favourite album: No More Heroes

Favourite song: (Get A) Grip (On Yourself)

Compared to expectations: ↑

Recommendation: Listen to the first three albums.

281. Wire

~ ernopepper ~ 1 Comment

(March 2023) Episode 481 is WIRE. Pink Flag (1977), their minimalist first album, identified them as a punk act, but they were more arthouse than mosh pit. Along with their next two excellent albums, Wire proved quite influential for post-punk and new wave. Except for breaks in the 1980s and 1990s, Wire has had consistent output, constantly self-reinventing among various pop/rock flavors. While admirable, I don’t see myself returning to any of the post-1987 albums, unlike the first three to which I definitely will.

Favourite album: Chairs Missing

Favourite song: Practice Makes Perfect

Favourite later album: Send (2003)

Compared to expectations: same

Recommendation: the first three albums

473. The Damned

~ ernopepper ~ Leave a comment

(February 2023) Episode 473 is THE DAMNED. Known in the punk pantheon for being the first UK punks to issue a record and to tour the United States. Their first album is superlative, drawing relatively more from the garage rock antecedents of punk. Can’t praise it enough. But it goes off the rails quickly: a couple ok post-punk albums and then eight blah rock records – it’s soooo boooring.

Favourite album: Damned Damned Damned

Favourite song: Neat Neat Neat

Compared to expectations: ↓

Recommendation: just the excellent first album

430. Adam and the Ants

~ ernopepper ~ 1 Comment

Episode 430 is ADAM AND THE ANTS (+ Adam Ant solo).  “Kings of the Wild Frontier” was the one non-classic rock album in my high school collection, and I played it repeatedly to show how “alternative” I was. How lame. But revisiting it four decades later, it still kinda slaps — idiosyncratic new wave with Burundi drums, glam tones and a pirate ethos, and bouncy fun.  The first solo album is OK but you can skip the rest.

Favourite album: Kings of the Wild Frontier

Favourite song: Dog Eat Dog

Favourite solo song: Goody Two Shoes

Compared to expectations: same

Recommendation: You’re good with Kings of the Wild Frontier and Prince Charming

357. The Slits

~ ernopepper ~ Leave a comment

(September 2021) Episode 357 is THE SLITS. Started out as a formative female UK punk band but soon transitioned to a wild-sounding post-punk, new wave sound with a strong dub substrate sung in a Nico* accent.

Favourite album: Cut

Favourite song: Shoplifting

Compared to expectations: same

Recommendation: An acquired taste, but a must-have if you’re into the UK punk/new wave thing.

* They covered “Femme Fatale” in a live recording, with (German-born) Ari Up pronouncing “clown” as “clonn” just as Nico did.

242. Hüsker Dü

~ ernopepper ~ Leave a comment

(December 2019) Episode 242 is HÜSKER DÜ. This is what I should have been listening to in the 1980s instead of what I was listening to.  Well, at least the first two kick-ass punk-ish albums; the rest were rather meh.  Highlight is drummer Grant Hart until he let the gated reverb ruin it.  IMHO Hüsker Dü is America’s The Jam.

Favorite album: Zen Arcade

Favorite song: I’ll Never Forget

Compared to expectations: same

HuskerDuZenArcade

210. fIREHOSE

~ ernopepper ~ Leave a comment

(April 2019) I have completed episode 210 of my “opus project.” This edition: fIREHOSE. I finished Minutemen, so I naturally started fIREHOSE next as it featured its two surviving members. This is what I should have been listening to in the 1980s instead of whatever I was listening to. Early fIREHOSE is much better than later fIREHOSE. Mike Watt is an incredible bass player.

Favorite album: If’n

Favorite song: Honey, Please

Compared to expectations: ↓

Ifn_Firehose_Album_cover

208. Minutemen

~ ernopepper ~ Leave a comment

(March 2019) I have completed episode 208 of my “opus project.” This edition: MINUTEMEN. I did not follow them in real time, but listening in retrospect, their influence is clearly recognizable, especially in funk-punk. Notable is their sense of adventurism. I particularly like the echoes of Captain Beefheart. It’s apt that Minutemen’s early songs clocked in at about one minute each, although I don’t think that’s where their name comes from.

Favorite album: Double Nickels On The Dime

Favorite song: The Glory of Man

Favorite EP: Minuteflag

Best approximation of a Captain Beefheart song: Power Failure

Compared to expectations: ↓

Doublenickels

198. Gang of Four

~ ernopepper ~ Leave a comment

(January 2019) I have completed episode 198 of my “opus project.” This edition: GANG OF FOUR. The first two albums are great post-punk material. But then they adopt 80s synths and I lose interest, and my interest finds no reason to return on the several unremarkable albums after that.

Favorite album: Entertainment!

Favorite song: Ether

Compared to expectations: ↓

Entertainment!.jpg