Charlie Bertsch / 08 Dec 2021
Rock Without Workers
Dignity of Labour, by The Ex
While The Ex’s post-punk has enjoyed several revivals since their 1980 debut, it always felt too fresh to be a forebear. (...)
post-punk
Steven Rubio / 22 Nov 2021
Music is Underrated
Listening for the Future, by Charlie Bertsch
Charlie Bertsch begins the illuminating introduction to his new book Listening for the Future by posing a question: “What do we ask of popular music?” (...)
Charlie Bertsch / 15 Sep 2021
Post-Punk Internationale
Gut and Fratti’s Let’s Talk About the Weather
While the pandemic continues to inflict horrific suffering on the world, its early phase is now capable of inspiring nostalgia. We remember the excitement of watching everyday routines grind to a halt and then having to figure out what to do in their absence.(...)
Charlie Bertsch / 26 Feb 2021
This is What Austerity Sounds Like
Mush’s Lines Redacted
It’s not easy for popular music to surprise these days. And it’s even harder for it to pull off that feat without becoming perverse or pretentious in the process.(...)
Charlie Bertsch / 11 Nov 2020
Men in the Era of Trump
The Viagra Boys’ Anti-Populist Post-Punk
The Viagra Boys are never easy listening. But I found them particularly hard in the weeks leading up to Election Day in the United States.(...)
Charlie Bertsch / 29 Oct 2020
New Irish Europe
Fontaines D.C.’s A Hero’s Death
A Hero’s Death is like a favourite shirt, the sort that makes you feel better about your place in the world just by putting it on.(...)
Charlie Bertsch / 12 Jun 2020
Working-Class Cosplay
Sleaford Mods’ All That Glue
As I stared up at the mountains I love, glowing a beautiful and terrifying orange, trying to suppress a cough that just kept coming, listening to the new Sleaford Mods collection All That Glue was surreal. (...)
Charlie Bertsch / 18 Mar 2020
Burying The Fall
Jan St. Werner’s Molecular Meditation
Molecular Meditation, the new collaboration between Jan St. Werner – half of the influential Berlin duo Mouse on Mars – and Mark E. Smith – the deceased frontman of post-punk stalwarts The Fall – is a proudly self-indulgent record. (...)
Charlie Bertsch / 04 Mar 2020
Power in the Darkness
Kaelan Mikla’s Riot Goth Noir
If someone put you in a dark room and played you a version of Icelandic band Kaelan Mikla minus the vocals, you might well wonder which neglected post-punk band from the early ‘80s was in the process of being rediscovered. (...)