Post-Punk

More arty than punk, less accessible than New Wave, the post-punk movement was built round a hard-core of innovators and boundary-smashers on both sides of the Atlantic: Devo – from Akron, Ohio – are a splendid cabal of geek misfits styled as clones, while Manchester's Joy Division turn punk's anger into a fierce melancholy.

Gothic rock has its place in the post-punk canon, in the shape of Southern Death Cult, featuring the Ontario-raised Ian Astbury, who then performed under the name Ian Lindsay, before disbanding the outfit and forming the Cult. The leftist politics of Gang Of Four ("Damaged Goods") gave them an edge, and were delivered via razor-wire funk.

Some of the artists in our post-punk cocktail had direct links to pure punk: Jah Wobble (born John Wardle) was the bass player in Public Image Limited, the outfit formed by Johnny Rotten after the breakup of the Sex Pistols. Closer to home, Pointed Sticks were the first Canadian band signed to Stiff, and the Nils are Montreal legends.

Post-punk is just as challenging and irreverent as punk, but it's several streets more ambitious, pushing music and concepts into fresh, imaginative, exciting, artfully dark territory. Evidence of the sheer quality of the movement can be found in the fact that it's smartest adherents have had (and continue to enjoy) some of the longest and most dynamic careers in rock: the Cure and New Order boast the talent and imagination to roll with the passing decades. Stop your pogo-ing: it's time to get dark and arty.