Forum / I never heard Joy Division unless Jay played them — "Love Will Tear Us Apart" and "Transmission." That's why I never had much respect for them.

  • Better.thumb

    He'd grab the microphone and go, "Dance! Dance! Dance! ... to the ra-di-oh!" and then he'd smirk and take another drag on his cigarette. He'd have the echo set up at those times, the reverb — like Perry Farrell, I later realized. He likes to use the echo on his voice. He uses it a *lot*.

    But it was hard to take Joy Division seriously, after that.

    William Gibson, on the other hand, describes their "bleak majesty" being inextricably tied to the experience of walking around cities, made possible by the advent of the Walkman™, then just current. It's in his collection of essays and other, assorted non-fiction pieces, "Distrust That Particular Flavor." I believe him, if nothing else — I know how platform can affect media/musical intake (7"s, cassettes, etc.) and that that was important to/picked up on by these guys (cyberpunk — John Shirley, Bruce Sterling, etc.).

    I looked up where the name came from — Nazi Germany, sex-providers and such. I knew it was pretty gross. I just didn't *like* the name.

    Paul Banks said, "I just don't see it." I don't either — comparing Interpol to Joy Division isn't just lazy, it makes for good, easy "copy," so people say it over and over again, the way that "riot grrrl" as a term is writable and conceivable so journalists like it. It's a buzz-kill for a lot of people. Plus, the Interpol comparison isn't like what people were saying about Silversun Pickups, sounding like Smashing Pumpkins — it may or may not have been true, but Silversun Pickups is a fraud band, only in it for themselves, not the greater good. Interpol is a lot like Placebo, with the guitar-attack approach and the "let's stay out all night" art-school boys approach, although they lack the whimsy that Placebo sometimes (often?) tosses in there like a salad dressing, to live things up[*]. They're even like the Television of "Marquee Moon," if you want to stretch it a bit — you know, two guitars, bass, drums ... *determined*. New York City, and all.

    Thought?? Comments??

    ------------------------
    [*] Check out "Pure Morning" by Placebo on Amazon Music
    https://music.amazon.com/albums/B00SQ0NWTC?trackAsin=B00SQ0NYDQ&ref=dm_sh_zw9wjaSNbRTji2MdDn4GARX0M

  • You must log in to reply to this thread.