sounds from down here

Promaja have kinda a typical post punk sound.

I got into an argument with a girl at a gig about whether "post punk" actually meant anything and whether the term could actually be used in a useful way to define contemporary bands. And I kind of get what she meant.

For one thing, post punk is an amorphous term. It means "after punk" the definition only in relation to being not punk, something after punk? But what is it?

I associate it loosely with DIY, with the democratisation of the band. With not needing to be skilled or play rock music in a traditional way or with any nod to Blues which Rock music before it was attached to. In post punk u saw people experimenting. You didnt have to be able to play your instrument and lots of people who might otherwise not got the traditional realm of rock music. Women got into it. Bands like The Coathangers, The Slits, Young Marble Giants, Au Pairs became influential. People experimented with the band format, trying out configurations like 2 bass players (like in Delta 5). One of the most enduring stylistic innovations of post punk in my opinion was guitars and bass players playing intersecting melodic or rhythmic parts, almost like call and response (Gang of Four, Josef K etc). Odd song structures, sometimes no designated lead singer, sometimes singers sharing intersecting vocal parts. Experimentation with drum machines, synth. One part of post punk branched into the goth (think Siouxie Sioux and the Banshees, Joy Division).

Anyway I don't fuckin know is the short answer. Sometimes I find contemporary bands influenced by post punk kind of boring. Like they're too tight, or too gothy and sombre. There's not enough sweat, not enough emotion, not enough experimentation or frenzy.

Hooper Crescent are kind of slept on imo. The band name is kinda wrong. Makes em sound like a dolewave band. They list Devo and Pylon as influences which makes sense.

There's a lot of post punk revival bands in Australia presently. Especially ones with women as creative driving forces. Which makes sense given the history of post punk.

Okay so Billiam and the Split Bills seems like the hardest working band in Melbourne. They are grinding it out like a 9 to 5. You could see them like 3 times a week if you wanted, it seems like.

I saw The Stress of Leisure in 2019 in Brisbane. I had no prior knowledge of them and I was kind of blown away by how much I liked them and how good they were!

They tick a lot of boxes for me musically, with post punk influences. Their name is a Gang of Four reference, it's also possible to make B-52's comparisons. Especially in when their song I Wanna Be Adult seems to have a reference Song For a Future Generation. I have also seen someone compare them to Magazine!!