5 Essential Early 80's Post-Punk Releases

Here are 5 essential early 80’s post punk records we love. Post-punk isn’t one sound, and these five prove it.

Siouxsie and the Banshees “Juju”  from 1981 is dark and tribal, with pounding drums and serrated guitar lines driving the whole thing forward.  Dramatic, and hypnotic -  it helped define the sound and aesthetic of the genre for years to come.

Mission of Burma’s “Signals, Calls and Marches” from 1981 is post-punk at its most confrontational, mixing jagged guitar riffs with tape manipulation and uncompromising energy. It’s raw, intellectual, and way heavier than people expect from early ’80s indie rock.

1980 saw Talking Heads “Remain in Light” enter the world.  It completely deconstructed rock music - rebuilding it with funk, Afrobeat, and obsessive repetition. It’s nervous, dense, and ridiculously influential - basically a blueprint for art-punk that still sounds futuristic. It pushed post-punk into new territory and is one of the most forward-thinking records of the decade.

The Cure’s “Seventeen Seconds” came out in 1980 and marked The Cure’s shift into minimalism. Icy basslines, sparse drums, and ghostly guitar lines. It’s cold, introspective sound laid the groundwork for post-punk’s more atmospheric and emotional side. The energy of the negative space on this album is just mesmerizing.

 

The Sound released “Jeopardy” in 1980.  The UK band puts driving post-punk rhythms with emotionally desperate vocals – it gives the whole record a constant sense of urgency. It’s a dark and often overlooked classic.  Some even note it as an early pop punk record.  I think it’s better described as “melodic post-punk.” If this is “pop punk,” then it’s pop punk having an existential crisis.

Different scenes, different sounds - but every one of these records helped define what post-punk could be.  If you disagree, cool - drop your list in the comments.