I don't know where people come up with terms like post-punk, but if The Coathangers are an example, I don't see the difference between it and punk–punk. They have all the characteristics of a punk band from the fuck you attitude, occasional primal scream vocals, the jaundiced view of society, to the emotionally truthful rawness of their overall sound.
Like a great many of the original punkers they can sound more then one note with their music, and don't always have to emulate a steel mill gone berserk. Punk is not just a style of music; it is the attitude behind the music. So even when played on acoustic guitar with a melodic sound, a song can still be punk. The Coathangers show a musical maturity on this album by knowing they don't have to be loud and fast all the time to be effective.
In fact, one of their funniest songs "Buckhead Betty" is along those lines as they make fun of pretty, young things aspiring to be vacuous and rich. In "Missing Letter" they take advantage of their mixed cultural heritage, one of the band members is Russian, to sing a song in that language. Drawing upon those Eastern European influences, they create a brooding, atmospheric song that borders on the psychedelic. I don't think you'll have heard an accordion played in quite this manner ever before.
Of course, some of the best songs on the disc (it's also being released on vinyl as well for all of you who still own turntables that actually play records) are still the straight ahead punk screamers. What's not to like in their ode to the ultimate in white trash, "Tanya Harding"? Then there is the evocatively titled "Shut The Fuck Up" that is their response to all the pressure on woman to exercise their bodies into perfection until there's not an ounce of fat anywhere to be found on them. Anorexia is so attractive isn't it?
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