The Orbis

Media Credit: Photos courtesy of www.vh1.com [Click to enlarge]

Amid the economic slump and civil unrest of late ‘70s Britain, a group of students from the University of Leeds formed a band whose response to the times was directly influenced by their studies. With lyrics inspired by such thinkers as Marx, Adorno and Baudrillard and with a name borrowed from the radical communist faction that incited the Cultural Revolution in China, the group, Gang of Four, was determined to reveal the multiple ways power, money and media manipulated people. After breaking up in 1981, the original lineup has recently re-formed for an expansive tour that began in the United Kingdom at the end of January and crosses over to the United States in the late spring.

Not so much a direct call to arms, the Gang of Four's lyrics focus on the difficulties and frustrations of trying to avoid the prompts and lures of capitalist culture and the designs of a ruling elite. In his song "Capital (It Fails Us Now)," lead guitarist Andy Gill explains capitalism's immediate presence in our lives: "From the moment I was born/I opened my eyes/I reached for my credit card." In "Not Great Men," they acknowledge that the stories found in our history books are often from the perspective of those in power. In "Natural's Not In It," lead singer Jon King yelps, "They make their profit from the things they sell to help you cob off" and "Repackaged sex keeps your interest." In a consumer society, even love and sex have become commodities.

The music surrounding these lyrics is designed to displace the listener from common expectations. Understanding that the straight-ahead, guitar-driven punk rock of the Sex Pistols and the Clash had lost its shock-value, the Gang of Four rattled its audience by being one of the first groups to sprinkle punk rhetoric and vocal stylings with funky bass lines and dub effects. Moreover, Andy Gill's guitar playing was far from predictable. In many songs, his guitar jumps in and out of the underlying funk rhythms with dissonant lines that frequently break into feedback (check out their song "To Hell With Poverty" for a prime example.) In addition, Gill left gaps in areas of songs normally reserved for guitar solos, thus inventing the "anti-solo."

 In the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, the Gang of Four created music that allowed people to dance out their frustrations with the current political climate; however, its relevance extends beyond this tumultuous time.

In a recent Rolling Stone interview, drummer Hugo Burnham explained, "[Our music] wasn't defined by the times...We weren't screaming about Margaret Thatcher. It was emotional politics -— the personal dynamics and issues, empowering yourself and questioning what's going on. That doesn't change." With the agitated, yet danceable sounds of post-punk making a surprising comeback in the music of current indie-rock lovelies Franz Ferdinand, The Futureheads, Radio 4 and Bloc Party, it is a perfect time for the post-punk pioneers Gang of Four to return. So, pick up one of their albums or catch one of their shows this spring and shake your politically frustrated ass.

Recommended starting point: the retrospective compilation "A Brief History of the Twentieth Century."

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