The renewal of Post-Punk ? Oh, really ?

As you have seen several times, if you follow most of my articles, I am a child of the 1980s who became a teenager in the 1990s and then an adult at the beginning of this new millennium. Throughout this process of evolution, I awakened to different musical styles more than varied. Among the many discoveries such as Heavy-Metal, Punk-rock and its variants (Hardcore, Post-Punk, Oi etc...), the emergence of hip-hop as well as electronic music, my taste for alternative music has not stopped growing. With much more consideration for the independent scene, while abhorring the soup that was broadcast all day long on radio sets and promoted by commercials with little regard for the musical quality of their pre-made productions, I discovered many different and diversified genres. Nevertheless, I remain sensitive to certain commercial works that result from real artistic work.

In short, this attentive eye for small artists has allowed me to forge a musical culture that has accompanied my life until now. Just as my dear friend @philodendron would say : "I couldn't live without music !" A very good motto that still applies today, since the desire to discover even more and always is almost omnipresent. Strangely, this desire to move forward is gradually confronted with an impassable wall. As if the inspiration disappeared in favour of emulation on the musicians' side and the impression of being locked in a box for the listener...

Memories, again and again...

Post-punk clearly left its mark on people's minds during the late 1970s and early 1980s. This was the end of a period when fury and revolt were the order of the day. The novice musicians of yesterday have learned to use their instruments and do not hesitate to enhance their compositions with new sounds. This brand new wave allowed many groups to come out of the shadows, while offering something new to an audience that was fond of sound experimentation. Joy Division, The Wire, Mission Of Burma, Sonic Youth and The Cure are the new leading figures of a movement that rocked the childhood of a significant number of amateurs, including myself.

I still remember those tender moments when I danced like a maniac around my female cousins who were then listening fully to Boys don't cry in their room. One of them wore a Gothic look and had more than enough fun letting me express myself to the sound of music, while covering me with kisses ! It is also thanks to them that I was able to discover other joys such as Bauhaus or Garry Numan. Although I have turned away from this genre for a more rough and distorted sound, over the years, it will leave some traces in my memory.

A new generation that is taking over the culture of an old one !

It is only more than thirty years later and through the Internet that I discover, somewhat surprised, that post-punk is undergoing a rather prolific revival. Just like Hardcore, a good ten years ago, a row of kids who didn't know this era from a very distant past, are taking up the codes as well as the attitude of a style that has never asked to come back to the forefront. My reaction was positive for a while, listening to the excellent albums of The Holograms, which take up the ideas of the great names of that time, while sublimating this sound to its characteristic tones. A very good discovery that could have stopped there, if I hadn't tried to do more research. It is therefore with a certain surprise that I gradually discover other existing bands that are trying to breathe a new modern spirit into post-punk or at least to bring it up to date. Of unequal qualities, my attention is still focused on two formations, with very good performances but which do not revolutionize the genre in any way.

Sect is a group from Barcelona, Spain, which describes it as a melting pot of everything that the early post-punk was able to provide. Very classical if not "already heard", listening to the band's one and only album remains very pleasant and will undoubtedly remind a ton of memories to the oldest among us. Although auditory variations occur here and there, Sect sounds much more like a punk band than a production that is intended to be later than this one.

The French of LITOVSK, offers a musical register much closer to the original style but always with an early punk energy. The lyrics are at times surreal, clearly giving a more poetic than demanding approach. An attitude that is also reflected in its dark and energetic sound. It is not uncommon to detect attempts to turn away from the basic rhythmic line, to get lost in short variations that would nevertheless deserve a little more attention. Certainly due to a lack of experience, LITOVSK only reproduces without innovation. That said, the intention is good, even very good and we will have a great time listening to this album !

It's all very well and good, but it has to be said that there's nothing new about a genre that has tended towards experimentation and originality since its inception. Have we reached the limits of creation? Although I am delighted with this unexpected return, I can only say that no other movement dares to innovate and go beyond what it has already invented in the past. Are we condemned, even within indie music, to enter into temporal loops that resurface for the duration of a nostalgia that remains totally unknown to many members of these different groups. Or am I the one who makes me old and stupid ? Only time will tell me....