An Overheard Conversation Leads to a Fabulous Book Detailing Postpunk Music and Times

 

Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978-1984 – Simon Reynolds (2005)

 

             Yes!  Once again, a recommendation from a Library patron turns out to be amazing.  Overhearing a discussion between our Librarian and the patron in question, the words “Rip It Up and Start Again” rang in my ears.  I interrupted them to ask if the book had any relation to the Orange Juice song, which, by fortuitous occurrence, I had just listened to on my daily post-lunch walk around campus.  The patron stated that, yes, the books title was taken from the Orange Juice track, and that the book was a history of postpunk music, well-worth reading.  After a quick request through the Inter-Library Loan program, the book was in my hands days later.

            As a devoted music fan, specifically of the more subversive and transgressive music from the 80’s and 90’s, I had read plenty on the Punk revolution of 1977, and of all the progenitors to that scene, artists such as the Velvet Underground, The Stooges, The Ramones, etc.  While people to this day play and perform “punk” rock music of all types, the initial incandescence of Punk was extremely short-lived.  Between 1976 and 1978, the Punk scene rose and died, mainly in the UK.  The ideals of a return to simplicity, to the feel and vibes of the initial rock legends everyone idolized, were a reaction to the inherently bloated and self-important nature of what was seen as rock music in the 70’s.  The rise of anemic, glossy, adult-oriented “rock” coincided with an explosion in the complex, obtuse, and difficult music or “progressive rock” and the inflation of the rock superstar mentality.  This led to the seemingly-regressive ideals of punk rock.  It was no longer important to be a trained, expert musician, or to pose as an “artist” creating important music. 

            The initial death of Punk coincided with its appropriation by the record companies seeking new money-making material.  Most of the early punk bands self-released their music, which sold well enough, but once the fad of “punk” hit the suburbs, the record companies sought to cash in.  In the aftermath of all this, a new crop of bands appeared, seeking to move forward, not backwards, and to seek new ways of making music more resonant with their modern world than the throwback Punk music of the previous few years.  To them, the retro-worshipping stance of the early punks was invalid, for in seeking to make the sounds of the future they simply reiterated the initial rock sounds of the past.

            The 7-year period covered in this book was one of infinite creativity, cynicism, and wild musical exploration.  The adoption of synthesizers, the refutation of the standard bass, drums, and guitar set-up, and the plunge into atonality all contributed to create wholly new music.  Although I was too young to experience most of it, many of my favorite acts were heavily influenced by the postpunk bands.  Groups such as Sonic Youth, The Butthole Surfers, and Big Black were my bread and butter.  Reading about the bands and times that influenced them helped me understand my faves more.

            Books such as this one provide first-hand context for the bands and music of this time.  They also help shine a light on bands that otherwise would stay vague memories in fans minds.  I learned a lot about bands such as The Fall, KLF, Scritti Politti, The Mekons, and others whose records I had seen, or whose music I had heard praised by the bands I like, but have never explored sonically.  I also learned many new things about bands I have loved for years, such as Public Image Limited, Suicide, and the aforementioned Orange Juice. 

Much like the experience of reading Thurston Moore’s “Sonic Life,” this book transported me to a world I have only seen referred to or mentioned tangentially.  The bands and music scenes detailed within ‘Rip It Up and Start Again” attempted something original, to try and create new music without the oversight and control offered by the record companies, music attempting something new and modern.  It was these bands, not the punk bands, that paved the way for the DIY and independent music scenes of the 1980’s in the USA and UK, allowing home-grown networks of promoters, clubs, record labels, and independent bands to travel the country and answer to no one but themselves.  Too often, artists who do not make it into the mainstream culture are forgotten, and their contributions are ignored, or bypassed in favor of the cleaner, generic acts that normally populate the charts.  Simon Reynolds has done all music fans a great service by writing this book.  Highly Recommended.

(This book can be purchased here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/291130/rip-it-up-and-start-again-by-simon-reynolds/ )