Few words inspire more fear in me than “the first album in [blank] years.” These albums tend to be hollow re-enactments of former glory that try to hold on to fame that was once there but is now missing. For every band that reunites and creates another great album, like Sunny Day Real Estate’s Rising Tide, there is a Smashing Pumpkins’ Zeitgeist. So when I heard that my favorite band of all time, Gang of Four, was getting back together and releasing their first new album of original material in more than ten years, I was nervous to say the least.
Post-punkers Gang of Four is the band everyone copied. With fiery creativity and individuality, their best album, Entertainment!, still sounds like nothing else even more than 30 years after its release. The rhythmic guitar, chanting vocals, metallic sound and bass lines that sound like they were ripped out of a Rick James song influenced countless artists. They wrote songs that were political essays, inflammatory theory and jagged as a piece of broken glass.
They were four art school kids from Leeds lead by the genius Andy Gill and John King who had a knack for describing culture in all its disgusting glory. Along with The Mekons, The Fall, The Slits, Public Image LTD, and The Buzzcocks, they brought on the post-punk revolution of the late 70s and early 80s. Gang of Four was one of the most important punk bands ever, and I will fight anyone who says otherwise.
With a discography that includes some of the best punk records ever recorded, why would the original line up come back to record more in their mid-forties. I couldn’t take a mid-life crisis from these men, they mean way too much to me. Luckily for everyone, there is no mid-life crisis music involved. The newest album, Content, is being released on January 24, 2011, and if it is anything like the free EP and singles available on their website, they haven’t lost their touch.
The new tracks are filled with the same sound and relentless energy that they had when they were in their twenties. The first single I heard off the album, “You’ll Never Pay for the Farm”, filled me with a rush of adrenaline, the same kind that rushes through me every time I listen to the classic “Anthrax”. It’s like no time has passed at all. They are still creative, still genius. They still sound reckless and new. They still sound fucking relevant.
Glass – Gang of Four (Free Download)
Sleeper – Gang of Four (Free Download)
Party All The Time – Gang of Four (Free Download)
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Top photo courtest of Eugine Merinov, bottom photo courtesy of Clash Music
