Pick four songs from any band and you can tell a lot about their sound. This summer, I’m featuring #RockBlocks, four picks from bands across various genres. They might be wildly different from each other, but what binds them together is the fact that they’re all a part of my life soundtrack.
In three years, Joy Division did more than what most bands accomplish over decades. Because the amount of recordings just isn’t much, it kind of forces listeners to pore through familiar tracks over and over again, discovering new wrinkles and things to admire about the band. One such exercise is exploring the lesser heralded Still album, a compilation of songs from the band’s beginnings to the death of Ian Curtis. “Glass”, in particular, is as close as you can get to a Joy Division deep cut without delving into some of those inaudible concert recordings that have been circulating.
For me, this is a song that has gotten better with time. It has all the markings of not just post punk, but striking resemblances to the post punk revival scene of the early 2000s. Interpol has often been cited as one such band largely influenced by Joy Division. After the dark torment of the lyrics and the eerie Ian Curtis-like baritone drone that we hear in Paul Banks’ voice, the similarities between the two bands end for the most part. But when I play “Glass” again, I hear Interpol all over it — from Kessler’s grating riffs to Fogarino’s rhythmic barrage. “Glass” is a window into one of New York City’s greatest music eras.
“Hearts fail. Young hearts fail.”