6 Post-Punk Bands You Should Know About

After the punk rock explosion of the early to mid 1970's had died down, a new breed of music quickly rose up to take its place. The musicians who started it wanted to explore a more angular style as well as apply a more arty twist to the music that was currently being offered. This new genre of music was known as Post-Punk, and here are 6 seminal bands that every good fan should acquaint themselves with:

PIL (Public Image Ltd.)

PIL were formed in 1978 by singer John Lydon (formerly of The Sex Pistols), bassist Jah Wobble, Keith Levene (ex-Clash guitarist) and drummer Jim Walker, who was a Canadian student who happened across Lydon's Melody Maker ad looking for musicians.

PIL fused together many different genres of music as John Lydon was finally able to explore his own musical style and indulge in making the kind of music that he hadn't been able to while fronting The Sex Pistols. Lydon was an avid fan of German Krautrock bands such as Can and Neu!, and echoes of both Can and Neu! can be heard in PIL, along with dance, reggae, world music, punk and rock.

PIL first began rehearsing together in May of 1978 with Lydon naming the band in July, taking it from a Muriel Spark novel called, of course, "The Public Image."

PIL released their first single in October of 1978 with a song that Lydon had written while still in The Sex Pistols called "Public Image." This song fared quite well, reaching the number 9 position in the UK charts.

Their debut album "First Issue" was released in December 1978 and was heavily steeped in dub reggae, aided by Jah Wobble's impressive bass tones.

PIL's second album, "Metal Box," was released the following year in 1979. This record included the song "Death Disco," which was Lydon's tribute to his mother, who was dying of cancer at the time. By this time, drummer Jim Walker had left the band and new drummer David Humphrey stepped in to assume the role instead.

PIL continued steadily on for the next 14 years, and John Lydon remained the one constant member in a line-up of ever revolving musicians.

Wire