Joy Division contemporaries stateside

What US band best complemented what Joy Division were doing? Mission of Burma is often considered the counterpart to Gang of Four, and to some degree, early PiL. For me this is a difficult question to answer, but some interesting comparisons come to mind. Sonic Youth between Evol and Sister seems to echo Joy Division, and for those of you who are aware of relatively obscure punk rock, the Wipers are a more sophisticated version of the An Ideal For Living sound. Any suggestions?

in what respect do you mean? in their sound? in the way they changed the direction of music? i think joy division brought punk music full circle by echoing the darker, experimental sounds of velvet underground. and they both had their own 'factory' out of which they worked, as well.

as far as changing the direction of music i think, and i'm completely serious about this, blondie. blondie were part of the CBGBs/max's kansas city crowd, but they experimented with disco and rap music--something their contemporaries were usually loathe to do.

One that comes to mind was DEVO. Their first two albums were revolutionary (as were JD's) as far as I'm concerned. Many musicians (myself included) cite these albums as very influential.

i am racking my brain to come up with an us jd eqivilent. at the time i was far too wrapt up in what was then known as the new german wave, and even most of those band names have now escaped my somtimes not so perfect memory. my excuse is that i haven't really thought about them in over 20 years.

i am racking my brain to come up with an us jd eqivilent. at the time i was far too wrapt up in what was then known as the new german wave, and even most of those band names have now escaped my somtimes not so perfect memory. my excuse is that i haven't really thought about them in over 20 years.

how about Talking Heads?

Chuckles wrote: One that comes to mind was DEVO. Their first two albums were revolutionary (as were JD's) as far as I'm concerned. Many musicians (myself included) cite these albums as very influential.

Oh yes! Good one. DEVO was ground breaking. Love them.

Pere Ubu

Devo is a good example: Rock toward electronics, interesting arrangements, social commentary.

If the Dead Kennedys hadn't been so entrenched in punk scene 'credibility', they could have been good recording artists. Musically, they have a few moments in common with Joy Divsion, believe it or not. I think stuff like 'Glass', 'Colony', and 'A Means to An End' appeal to the weird but memorable dissonance typical of the best DK material.

thank you, andy! pere ubu! early devo is quite awesome too. but then you have to go back to the residents, who did all this kind of stuff (quite differently) and more...

the wipers (mentioned earlier) were very emotional, like joy division, the rhythm sections was sparse and melodic, etc... but the guitar (while dirty and incredible) was more... linear than sumner's work. can't remember his name... greg something... but the guitarist was a kind of post-punk jimi hendrix. although he was no keith levine (who, other than kevin shields, is the best guitar player of all time).

That'd be Greg Sage, of The Wipers, from Portland, a great band indeed.

Funkadelic.

Great thread!

how about Suicide? New York proto-post punk with that spooky farfisa organ.

i'd also add these:

Savage Republic The Residents Television The Modern Lovers Silver Apples 'Lungs'-era Big Black Band of Susans Captain Beefheart Swans Rocket from the Tombs Bush Tetras Jandek (first album came out in 1978)

an interesting fact was that Mission of Burma were slated to support Joy Division two nights in Boston for the aborted American tour.

also I guess James Chance and the Contortions were the U.S. answer to A Certain Ratio, I guess.

dave soligo wrote: Great thread!

how about Suicide? New York proto-post punk with that spooky farfisa organ.

i'd also add these:

Savage Republic The Residents Television The Modern Lovers Silver Apples 'Lungs'-era Big Black Band of Susans Captain Beefheart Swans Rocket from the Tombs Bush Tetras Jandek (first album came out in 1978)

an interesting fact was that Mission of Burma were slated to support Joy Division two nights in Boston for the aborted American tour.

also I guess James Chance and the Contortions were the U.S. answer to A Certain Ratio, I guess.

i was thinking suicide too, very different stuff from the late 70's CBGBs Movement two guys from Brooklyn and i was told that DM say they are one of their Major Influences

morphine