Leeds’ band Coal Mob in their email to us described themselves as a post-punk band, I’d agree with that. The thing here is that of the three tracks they’ve released only one falls into the ‘generally accepted sound’ that is now described as the ‘post-punk.sound’. As somebody who spent their youth listening to post punk music I. like everyone else I knew then, knew that post-punk merely referred to music that came after punk not a particular sound. So the avant-garde jazz sounds of Rip, Rig & Panic, The Associates’ alternative pop sound, the jangly guitar sounds of Orange Juice and the synth based sound of The Human League could all be equally well described as post-punk.
Sorry I got a little carried away there, back to ‘Cowgirl’. It sounds like a glorious mix of punky indie, the big classic alternative pop sound of the late 70s/early 80s and, yes, there is something of that sound that marks something as being from the post-punk period. This is hard to put a finger on exactly but it’s in the big sweeping synth sounds, the chanted vocals, the sudden changes of tempo and, importantly, the slow spoken word section. This, I must admit, had me weeping in musical joy. I mentioned The Associates before for a reason, and that is that parts of this remind me of them And I always had a particular liking for The Associates.
Now whether Coal Mob’s sound comes from listening to music from the post-punk period or from bands that built on that sound and then bands who built on that sound or from the current crop of post-punk bands and artists isn’t really an issue. The important thing about the post-punk period was that bands were making their own music cooked up from the mix of their influences. And Coal Mob are doing that, and doing it wonderfully. There’s a beautiful feeling of substance over style in what they do, and I can only applaud that.
The other thing I have to applaud them for is their refusal to make music that has one sound. The three tracks they’ve released sound different but all sound like them; and I love that.
‘Cowgirl’ is a big, wide and beautiful thing that’s inventive and bloody glorious. Go listen.
Upcoming gigs in Leeds
