Gang of Four – Content (Groenland)
2/5
By: Lauren Down
It’s been sixteen years since Gang of Four released their last original full length, and even longer since the Gang of Four were actually a proper four-piece. Those early, heady days between 1979 and 1982 saw the Leeds quartet at their most vitriolic, their most politically driven and their most uncompromising. Fusing sardonic punk with funky rhythmic sections, the band’s harsh overtures and socio-political commentary spawned many a post-punk progeny from the frantic grunge of Nirvana and the early output of the Red Hot Chili Peppers to more recent revivalists such as Liars and Radio 4.
Yet as the band lost founding members Hugo Burnham and Dave Allen to bitter disputes, the Marxism-driven punk that made the band such an unlikely success was watered down with elements of dance-pop and disco. As Jon King and Andy Gill kept the band alive with Mall and Shrinkwrapped in the 90s, their provocative aesthetic became a shell of its former self. Having triumphantly returned for a tour and re-release amongst the influx of post-punk upstarts in 2005, the original line-up proved that their early material and anti-consumerist messages were as relevant as ever.
Skip forward to 2011 and as political tensions run as high as the nation’s crippling economic deficit there seems much need for motivated socio-political commentary. As for anti-consumerist messages, the motivation behind a new album so many years down the line may well be the anti-thesis to the band’s origins as they look set to cash-in on a nostalgic fan base.
Opening with ‘She Said You Made A Thing of Me,’ the shaky reverb and lulling bass lines hold an uneasy tension amidst the distorted guitar rills and smooth crooning vocals. Brooding and anthemic, the sparse instrumentals and compelling rhythmic section are somewhat restrained; a furious chaotic sprawl swelling beneath but never entirely breaking through. Addressing society’s material obsessions, the loss of identity in today’s interconnected world and the rarity of creative originality, the coarse howling of ‘Who Am I?’ finally drags Gang of Four’s anarchistic hues fully to the fore, whilst tracks like ‘I Can’t Forget Your Lonely Face’ recapture Gill’s classic anxious, off-kilter, staccato guitars.
The drive, angst and frustration that populated their youthful rebellion hasn’t completely lost itself in tracks like ‘You Don’t Have To Be Mad’ and their experimental side is kept alive in ‘A Fruitfly in the Beehive’, but the wry and witty cynicism seems dry and listless. As we delve further into the album the band’s cold harmonies, grating vocals and retrograde punk fail to live up to expectations. With an oeuvre as well established as Gang of Four, it’s difficult to understand why Jon King and Andy Gill keep returning with new material. Their 30-year-old efforts seem equally, if not more relevant and real than Content.
Even though the record sees Gang of Four’s post-punk attitude and King’s harsh, politically motivated tongue turn around a few compelling anthems, all earnest vitriol and revolt seems masked by the smooth veneer of production and a lack of conviction.
Gang Of Four - Content by The Drift Record Shop
Artists in this article: Gang Of Four
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