Lately I've been getting more into new-wave and early punk... Is that totally lame? I don't think so at all, I love their sounds. A band that has become one of my favorites is Joy Division. They came to my attention while watching Donnie Darko with one of my friends, during the party scene Love Will Tear Us Apart is played and this friend told me I should look into the song. I immediately fell in love with it. It really, truly is a beautiful song. In the beginning there is this steady rise with the bass, and then the addition of the guitar and then the drums and then synthesizer. AH I'm listening to it now and it just makes me feel incredibly nostalgic. The lead singer of the band, Ian Curtis, has this incredibly chilling voice that just sound totally awesome. It's almost hollow sounding, like he doesn't really care about what he as to say. His ambivalence reels you in and keeps you there.
Disorder is my second favorite song by them which starts out with a really heavy bass line and then again gets kicked with drums and guitar. Ian starts off repeating "feel it closin' in" and you get almost scared wondering what the fuck is closing in on him. This song makes me paranoid, but a good kind of paranoid. If a song can tap deep enough into your emotions that you, as the listener, feel paranoid, that's something worth listening to. Closer to the end he's pleading someone not to "fade away" and the song just ends unexpectedly. It's really a lovely song that you should get right now... I'm waiting...
They have several other songs that you should check out, mainly These Days (Not a Nico Cover), Digital, and Transmission. All of these songs are inexplicable, just listening to them makes you feel like driving 90 miles an hour down the highway in a beat up convertible or robbing a local 7-11.
Ian Curtis, (like many of the greats) committed suicide in 1980 and the band reformed later that year as New Order. New Order has some good songs too, much more typically an "80's" band then Joy Division but still something to look into. A few of my favorites are Bizarre Love Triangle and Age of Consent. Joy Division is a crazy good band that is overlooked by the people of my generation, and I encourage you to look into them.
I don't think anyone's reading this, but if by chance you are comment and tell me what you think. Agree or disagree, whatever I want to know what you think about them.
