8 - ‘Wild Boys’: the aesthetic of the synthetic

Summary

The after-effects of punk rock were characterised by a multiplicity of overlapping developments, by different musical concepts and by a variety of stylistic forms of expression. The punk-inspired opening up of the music business to the activities of small independent firms, local promoters and alternative directions in music, resulted in a creative explosion which pushed the succession of styles, fashions and trends to breakneck speed. The strands of pop music development which had previously been carefully kept separate now ran together in the most remarkable crossovers to make a mixture of disparate musical forms. Disco music, funk and reggae found themselves in an unconventional synthesis with punk, hard rock and heavy metal, as in the punk-funk fusion of Bush Tetras, in the heavy metal-funk of Level 42 or in the symbiosis of rock and reggae produced by The Clash and a series of British punk bands. Dub, rap and the sound creations of overstyled electronic dandies, labelled the New Romantics, provided the background for a wave of dance crazes in the discotheques. Peter Tosh, Big Youth and Inner Circle were offering reggae in a pop-influenced disco mix. Rockabilly, ska, soul, rhythm & blues, rock‘n’roll and the unmistakable Liverpool Merseybeat guitar sound of the early sixties were experiencing a revival which broadened out into a discriminating reappraisal of the whole musical heritage of rock history.

Post punk, with groups like PIL, Pop Group or Gang of Four, as well as the American No Wave bands like DNA or Teenage Jesus, introduced itself with a mixture of aggressive noise, musical minimalism and stereotyped repetition with clear references to the ‘minimalist music’ of the classical avant-garde in Philip Glass, Terry Riley and Steve Reich.