Simon Reynolds’ Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978-1984 is an ambitious and well-researched, though ultimately flawed, attempt at defining and chronicling the postpunk movement. Like post-Entertainment Gang of Four, the material is solid and engaging, but leaves you thinking it could have been so much better.
There are many things to like about this book, and these keep Reynolds’ study from being just another also-ran entry in the growing number of books examining the punk and postpunk eras. Reynolds’ enthusiasm and love of the postpunk music he discusses is apparent, and for the most part he tempers his enthusiasm and doesn’t fall into the trap of claiming everything from this era was without fault (though his over-the-top praise of Scritti Politti borders on the obsessive, wearing-blinders type of praise usually espoused by a band’s family members).
This enthusiasm lends a certain pace to the book that makes it very readable. Reynolds paints great pictures of the various musicians, freaks, con artists, suits, and lackeys that dotted the postpunk landscape, and rarely does the book get bogged down in extraneous details. (It should be noted that the U.S. version reviewed here is an abridged version of the U.K. edition).
The greatest strength of this book is how Reynolds convincingly places postpunk music in its broader historical, social, political, and economic contexts. Of course, some of this is easy; it doesn’t take much effort to show how Joy Division’s utterly humorless and bleak music was influenced by the band’s shithole hometown of Manchester (not to mention Ian Curtis’ fractured psyche). Though it can be a slippery slope (and borderline pretentious) to argue that a raucous noise band was somehow influenced by high art, Reynolds makes a strong case for exactly that, in the cases of Pere Ubu, The Pop Group, and Gang of Four. In these ways, the book reads like equal parts social history and music history, and the end result is that the reader is left with a greater understanding of how these outside forces influenced the music of the postpunk years.
But enough of this Simon Reynolds Admiration society. Now it’s time to turn on the Nasty switch. There are just simply too many gaps in Reynolds’ study that prevent it from ranking as the definitive word on the postpunk era.
One glaring shortcoming is the key bands and movements that are summarily ignored or given short treatment, especially on the American side of the pond. The early 1980s American hardcore scene, both on the East and West coasts, is given scant attention. Likewise, pre-vortex-of-suck R.E.M. is not even addressed; Reynolds instead inexplicably focuses on the B-52s when discussing the Athens music scene. Finally, the crush-all-others-like-grapes band Mission of Burma is given a truly appalling Cliffs Notes treatment. While it is impossible to mention every band or movement in a relatively short book, Reynolds’ omissions of such areas in favor of chapters devoted to less-important bands (like Soft Cell and Human League) seems curious at best.
Article comments
1 - Gordon Hauptfleisch
Great review and analysis, well-written.
2 - Christopher Rose
If someone was looking for evidence that one has fallen into a parallel universe where the laws of nature are cruelly perverted, these quotations would be it!
Joy Division’s utterly humorless and bleak music was influenced by the band’s shithole hometown of Manchester.
Though it can be a slippery slope (and borderline pretentious) to argue that a raucous noise band was somehow influenced by high art, Reynolds makes a strong case for exactly that, in the cases of Pere Ubu, The Pop Group, and Gang of Four.
Now it’s time to turn on the Nasty switch.
the crush-all-others-like-grapes band Mission of Burma.
Reynolds’ omissions of such areas in favor of chapters devoted to less-important bands (like Soft Cell and Human League)
the book’s greatest fault lies in Reynolds’ claim in the Afterword that the years 1978-1984 somehow represented a golden age of musical experimentation and creativity that surpassed both the punk era that preceded it and the indie era that followed it.
postpunk gave us a whole mess of tremendous bands, but it also produced garbage like Bow Wow Wow and Frankie Goes to Hollywood.
Great review and analysis, well-written.
Total bollocks each and every one!
I've not read the book yet but I would be very surprised if it failed to mention the awesome Orange Juice, from whom the title is borrowed.
3 - STM
Rose: "If someone was looking for evidence that one has fallen into a parallel universe where the laws of nature are cruelly perverted ... "
They would navigate to blogcritics.
4 - Christopher Rose
I guess it could look that way, but then again, you're upside down, you mad Aussie you!
5 - Gordon Hauptfleisch
Christopher, [Personal attack deleted] - leave me out of this. Commentary on the written quality of a piece can be independent of opinion on the content.
Show a little class.
6 - Christopher Rose
Well, grumpy Gordon, you also said it was a good analysis, which it isn't, so your comment was inaccurate in part; maybe you should be the one that shows a little class, rather than bad-tempered grouchiness...
7 - Gordon Hauptfleisch
Christopher: The writer is offering a reasoned and organized -- hence, good -- analysis of the book, despite the fact that he didn't consult you for your personal opinions.
I don't mind being grouchy, but maybe you, as the Comments Editor, should be concerned with coming off as unprofessional.
8 - Christopher Rose
Gordon, I was unaware that presenting a bunch of contentious and inaccurate opinions was an analysis, regardless of whose opinions he may have countenanced.
As to how I am considered as Comments Editor, I'm not a professional - and nor or you - so I'm more concerned about communication and grouchiness on that level. Plus which, just because I'm the Editor, doesn't preclude me from making my own comments as I see fit; they are two entirely different activities...
9 - Natalie Bennett
This article has been selected for syndication to Advance.net , which is affiliated with newspapers around the United States, and to Boston.com. Nice work!
10 - Gordon Hauptfleisch
Christopher--Not a professional? You better talk to someone in the Payroll Departent and in Benefits - maybe you can still get some backpay and get in on the Dental Plan.
If you don't already have 'em, you'll also get your own parking space and a key to the Executive Washroom.
11 - Christopher Rose
Nice to see you in a more sociable mood, Gordon. As to those perks, one day, one day!
12 - Michael Stipe
what's this "vortex of suck" slander? well, i never! don't wear fur. hug a tree. gotta go listen to husker du now! save a whale.