What is a Post-Punk Princess?

Take your seats, class. I'm about to break this down for you.

I suppose this equation can be broken down in to two separate questions, the first and most important being:

What is post-punk?

Post-punk is a fantastic little sub-category of music that's endearingly persnickity as it is so abstract. This dark, gorgeous acid-trip of sexuality and emotion put to music is nestled comfortably in between the aggression and drive of 3-chord punk and the gloomy electronics of new wave. In short, post-punk is where all of the tragedy of the world went to compose a symphony; and, for the most part, this took place in the late 1970s and went through the 1980s. Some of the main channels for this type of music were bands like Joy Division, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Cure, Bauhaus, Echo and the Bunnymen, The Psychedelic Furs, and The Smiths. Basically, the brightest of eyes and the blackest of souls.

Top to bottom: Joy Division, The Cure, Bauhaus

The second question you may ask is probably not for the definition of a princess but, more likely:

What gives you such a royal title over something you had nothing to do with?

Nothing does. But how clever does that sound? Post-punk princess. It's fucking brilliant. This question, however, will burn brighter in your mind the further I go in to my taste in music because it does not begin and end with post-punk music at all. My musical journey begins with English rock'n'roll of the 1960s; takes a detour through Detroit for the Motown era; grooves on down south for some jazz and gets introduced to swing; plummets down to the darkest parts of hell to jam to some shock rock; surfaces in Britpop (and stays there for quite a while); and then goes on a music bender that starts on a highway with American modern country, exits and finds a town called Malice, and ends up in goth rock. And I'm still travelling, so that twisted map will only get better. This story will go from punk to funk and anywhere else that interests me as time moves on.

 

Oh, there's a third question you might have after reading that:

Why the emphasis on post-punk then?

I've been a music fan for my entire life (not as common of a trait as I originally thought. Turns out most people just like a certain band or song and leave the rest of music behind after that), and have branched off in to every genre I could think of for as long as I could stand it. In 25 years, I have never been so affected by music as I was the day I discovered Joy Division. Tragically, the music catalogue of this band is incredibly limited. But the addiction had been set in place and I had to find more music that reminded me of the saddest, yet most beautiful sounds I had ever heard. Stick around and I'll tell you the entire story of that glorious day. But, for now, I'll summarise by saying that post-punk music gave me a feeling that shot me down to a point lower than the proverbial 'bottom,' but refused to kill me. When you wake up from that, you feel rather invincible. That's why it means so much to me.

Undead, undead, undead...