2018 for many was a turning point in the alternative music scene. Six years ago, Shame released their debut LP Songs of Praise; IDLES’ released their first album Joy As An Act of Resistance; Fontaines D.C released their double A-side ‘Chequeless Reckless’ and ‘Boys in The Better Land’. There was a feeling that yes, punk could be at the fore again. In many ways, the year signalled the beginning of the rise of what would soon be called Post-Punk. The term should not be confused with the late-1970s and 1980s variety of anything after punk. This genre I am referring to has a multitude of journalistic names, ‘Post-Brexit’ being one, and the spurious ‘Crank-Wave’ being another.
Characterised by potent, often spoken lyricism and – as with most genres – a general ‘attitude’ (interpret that as you will), Post-Punk is a disparate genre that loosely covers a variety of styles. The term has now become one of the music industry’s favourite pretentious buzzwords, but six years on, it seems to be fizzling out and I believe it is about time too.
Just a year on from the three aforementioned bands bursting onto the scene, Black Country New Road would release their debut single, ‘Athens, France’, to extraordinary critical acclaim – soon to be followed by their own debut LP For The First Time, which Pitchfork described at the time as “a post-punk haven for unfiltered pretensions and paranoia.” The album marked an eclectic merger of traditional orchestration – with woodwinds, saxophone, violins, and beautifully classical piano melodies vying for space with more traditional distorted guitars. While frontman Isaac Wood’s desperately emotional vocal style was not necessarily new for the British indie scene, his beautifully sardonic wit and kitchen-sink realism were another breath of fresh air.
Entering a bit later to the party, Bristolian odd-rockers Squid would release their debut LP Bright Green Field in 2021 again to critical acclaim, blending strange snapshots of British life with off-kilter rhythms and discordant guitar lines. The crying yelps of drummer Ollie Judge certainly set them apart to some degree, but the core tenets of their sound focus on a British slice-of-life lyricism with raw, punkish energy.
Together, the five bands mentioned hold very little in common, but what rings true in all is the attempt to foreground voice. Harsh, distorted guitars and glimmers of melody drive on in the background, but what stands out front and centre is pointed lyricism – rambling British observations, or overtly political tirades.
As with all musical movements and ‘scenes’, the core bands push the envelope, and others follow. That is not to say that every band that took inspiration from the likes of BCNR, Squid, Fontaines D.C., black midi, and IDLES were unoriginal. Some of the genre’s best tunes have emerged from the inevitable wave that followed, with Opus Kink’s ‘The Train’ and English Teacher’s ‘The World’s Biggest Paving Slab’ examples of standout tracks.
While there is still, of course, a taste for mosh-worthy punkish music with embittered wit; music tastes shift in and out of favour. The big warning sign that a genre has reached peak saturation is when bands with no discernible identity emerge, already pre-packaged with the genre’s ‘sound’. Unfortunately, enough for lovers of Post-Punk, if there is one thing the genre is, it is easy to ape. From 50-cap basement rooms to the smaller names on festival line-ups, the genre seems to suffocate musical variety.
A key frustration is also what the genre is built upon. Post-Punk’s spoken-worded drivel, lyrically perfected early on by the likes of Fontaines DC’s Grian Chatten, requires, above all, wit. If anything, the waning in the genre’s popularity can also demonstrate that the belligerently patronising grumblings of a man like Joe Talbot can be extremely worn on most alternative music listeners if he has nothing new to say.
Within four years of the supposed awakening moment, Isaac Wood announced he was leaving BCNR indefinitely on mental health grounds. While on the surface, this appeared to be only the end of an era for just one band in the scene, it signalled if anything a fracturing breakdown of the original bands of the Post-Punk ‘Windmill scene’.
The question of what could be next is highly objective. Not only objective but downright ridiculous to predict… So here are my thoughts.
Releasing the record in March of 2023 to instant and rapturous acclaim, Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lucy Dacus (also known as the pseudo-supergroup boygenius) struck a chord with something that had been lying relatively dormant for some time – the want for beautifully crafted melodies. Beginning with the stunningly raw vocal track ‘Without You Without Them’ – echoing the fragile interloping melodies of The Fleetwoods – boygenius as a collective issued their decree: a beautiful melody is always fashionable.
While all three have been writing and releasing music to no small audiences prior to the record and its rapturous debut. The bringing together of these crystal-clear voices seemed to project their sound fully to the foreground of alternative music.
This shift has also been accompanied by similar transitions with some of Post-Punk’s bigger names. Grian Chatten released his debut frayed yet melodic solo album Chaos For The Fly in June of 2023, which, whilst retaining some of the more skittish elements of Fontaines, lent more into the intimate and tuneful. Meanwhile, BCNR – sans their visionary frontman – released Live at Bush Hall to mixed reviews, again leaning more upon the delicate melodic sides of their first two albums, coupled with a much bigger emphasis on the shining vocalist-bassist Tyler Hyde.
Manchester’s own local music scene has witnessed this positive change, with fabulously talented female songwriters such as Yasmin Coe and Evie Eve rightfully taking their place alongside bigger, more established artists. Just last year, Coe supported Saul Adamczewski (formerly of the Fat White Family), himself a figure on the fringes of the elusive Post-Punk scene.
This shift has hinted at an extremely necessary change in music – increased female voices. Post-punk is, for all of its vaguely left-wing connotations, a scene all too dominated by the white man. While it may seem trivial to highlight – easy pickings if you will – for a musical scene that outwardly prides itself on having some ‘message’, lack of representation seems to have a large role to play in its flailing relevance. English Teacher’s newest single ‘R&B’ sought to tackle this stereotyping head-on, from lead singer Lily Fontaine, who writes earnestly and intelligently about her own experiences as a Black woman within such a scene. More of this is needed to shift the dial.
Post-punk has frankly reached peak saturation. It has said what it wants to say, and its sound is becoming tiresome. It is about time that melody takes centre stage again, and with it, hopefully, some voices that aren’t all white and male.
