- Big Black — “He’s a Whore”, 1987.
Albini and co. launch a grindball sardonic sludge from their shit catapult. - Automatic — “Mind Your Own Business”, 2019.
Classic Delta 5 jam repurposed by a one of the most exciting post-punk trios of the new school. Can I lick the crumbs from your table? Fuck yes. - Gang of Four — “To Hell With Poverty”, 1981.
From an album that reeks with brilliance in almost every note, this is an extremely guilty pleasure. That bassline could solve world hunger and that backbeat could launch rockets. - Kas Product — “Never Come Back”, 1982.
The sound of electro punk recorded in a kid’s cardboard fort. - Pigface — “Cutting Face”, 1993.
Absolute peak early 90s Pigface when every creative piston was firing on overdrive. Released on the between-albums Washingmachine Mouth EP, which in of itself is a dark trip into psycho electronics. - 16 Volt — “Motorskill”, 1995.
Released at the very apex of “industrial metal”, 16 Volt’s first album outpaced their brethren with sharper production, better songwriting and a firmer grasp of why “industrial” mattered for the disillusioned. Its menace is espoused perfectly on “Motorskill”, its most widely traded single. - Cyanotic — “Signal The Machines (Randolph & Mortimer Remix)”, 2019.
R&M run this electro-metal stomper through their trademark EBM workout with astonishing results. This is built for bodies in motion. - A Projection — “Transition”, 2017.
Intoxicating hit of darkwavey post-punk masquerading as an ultra economical top 40 pop song. Fun, sad, dark and bright all at the same time. - Hapax — “Elegy”, 2019.
Perhaps the best post-punk album of 2019, every song on Hapax’s astonishing third LP is a tour de force of gothic catharsis, a late-night, slow-motion fall through lost loves and fragile memories. “Elegy” offers no comfort except reflective commiseration. - IAMTHESHADOW — “The Skin”, 2018.
This delicate goth mover bleeds loss and desperation, but the velvet harmonics on the chorus are soul-shaking and literally unforgettable. This is ten times better than it has any right to be and the scene is lucky to claim them. - Body of Light — “Don’t Pretend”, 2019.
An album worth revisiting over and over again for its explosive, neon-lit dance fight montage gems like this. - Night Sins — “Two Headed Dream”, 2019.
Philly’s darkwave maestro bolts a driving beat onto a sultry bassline and curtains of gothy keys. - Bloc Party — “Ares (Villains Remix)”, 2009.
Whatever your opinion of Bloc Party, there’s no denying their passion for remixes and giving other producers a platform. This rinse converts a barn-burning post-punk grenade into a city-destroying dancefloor nuke. No prisoners on this one. - SARIN x Imperial Black Unit — “Will To Destroy”, 2019.
Industrial techno has every opportunity to fall stale and formulaic, but in the hands of these guys, it’s a near infinite sonic lab in which to devise new forms of skull-melting anthems. Masters at work.