JOY DIVISION
When Ian Curtis wrote his suicide note, he probably didn't realise how much his band's output affected people. However, he would have had still less chance of forseeing JJ72...
What most people seem to forget about Joy Division is that they weren't superbeings, or untouchable artists - they started out as four slightly better than average punk rockers from Manchester. They found their artistic voice, as it were, by starting small and working up. This is not to malign their earlier work, such as the 'An Ideal For Living' EP, which still has the passion and fervour of much of their later tracks (the Heart and Soul box set demonstrates this, with hardly a track sounding out of place). But it makes an interesting point, that it didn't really matter with Joy Division what genre or form the music aspired to (basic 3-chord punk or the complex synth-pop of 'Love Will Tear Us Apart') - it kind of transcended these bounaries. I think a case can be made for even the rawest thing I have heard by them, the Warsaw Demo semi-bootleg album being 'true' and naturalistically expressive. It's not overambitious, and shows a band trying to do the best they can, in their own way - surely the best thing any band can strive to achieve.
JOY DIVISION
Now, contrast this with a lot of indie music today, indie of the depressed variety - many have obvious Ian Curtis aspiritions, whether they know it or not (JJ72 deny they are trying to sound like Joy Division, despite the fact they are:'Closer' copying single covers and fonts et al). But they assume that Joy Division was solely about the music, which I don't think it is - I think it is emotion expressed by the band that makes the music so powerful. Anyone who has the 'Live in Preston' CD will know that technically speaking, it was not very good - a musicologist would wince at all the slightly mis-placed chords, but anyone with a soul (and an ear or two) can interpret what's happening here as something wonderful and expressive (and let us not forget that expression was what punk was intended to be all about). I have a suspicion that JJ72 et al will maybe play more gigs pleasing for the Musicologist with a taste for shite-arsed indie, but their live albums, if anyone could ever be arsed to buy one, would sound nowhere near as interesting as the Fractured Music Archive releases.
NOT JOY DIVISION
Joy Division's real legacy lies not with bands whom the press normally lazily use as a kind of euphimism for feeling depressed (Radiohead, or recently Elbow and My Vitriol). Because if you actually listen to it, Joy Division is not trying to make you feel depressed, or wallow in a self-indulgently miserable sound. 'Interzone', 'Isolation', 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' even, aren't exactly depressing - lyrically maybe, but musically definately not. Joy Division inspired bands in the USA like Nirvana (Joy Division being one of Kurt Cobain's favourite bands) and The Nation Of Ulysses (Ian Sevonius' stage performances very obviously similar to Ian Curtis'), and bands in Britain like the Manics.
It is a noble intention to try and emulate the musical feeling of Joy Division, perhaps; but merely copying their music badly is not the way to do it - it's all about feeling.
CODA:'In A Lonely Place' is an exhibition at the rather great Bradford-based National Museum of Photography, Film and Television. It is an exhibition of work inspired and influenced by the Joy Division/New Order track of the same name (Heart&Soul Disc3/Substance Disc2). May 25-Aug27.
Disappear Yourself Back With The Very Words You Now Read