Joy Division / New Order / White Lies

I saw the film Control last night for the first time. Despite being rather depressing, this movie brought me a serious amount of joy. After four years in the music industry, and one of those being in Manchester, there was something that struck home. The classic record deal, the rolling Northern English accents, and the black and white portrayal of rain, pints, cigarettes, and dank underwhelming venues all touched my heart.
And that's really what the post-punk and Manchester music scene are really about to me - a rainy, dark, gloomy sound from a rainy, dark, gloomy place and born out of the raw, often angry, and always angsty punk scene. Having a broad range of music to listen to and being easily influenced by sounds, I find it difficult to listen to angsty music all the time. That being said, when a melancholy mood strikes, I relish being able to wrap myself in glorious Mancunian gloom, wear extra eyeliner, and revel in rich croonings from across the pond.
"Control" reminded me of my first affair with "Love Will Tear Us Apart" - the song that first piqued my interest in Joy Division (before I knew they had anything to do with New Order). Though there is that vaguely tinny production sound that is present in all of Joy Division's songs and most punk from before their era for that matter, there is a sweetness to it that I find more reminiscent of New Order. Beneath the guitars, you can hear the almost naive and hesitant synth backing it, showing the evolution of the band's sound towards what New Order would become famous for, even before the death of Ian Curtis.
It was that emotional border between post punk and dance music that caused me to fall in love with New Order's "Temptation" (on a dancefloor no less), long before I understood what Manchester music, Factory Records, or the Hacienda were really about. And as a pop music whore, I'm happy to say I hear that same sound evolving in artists like Hot Chip, Cut Copy, and Friendly Fires.
And while I may lean more towards the New Order sound than the Joy Division sound in my everyday listening, I have a selective collection of artists I save for gloomy days. These limited spaces are occupied by the likes of (Joy Division of course), Interpol and Editors, and this year, I was thrilled to add White Lies to that list. Though they're Londoners, they site Northerners like Joy Divsion and Echo and the Bunnymen as influences, and I think they easily do justice to their predecessors. One listen to Harry McVeighs somber vocals singing songs entitled "Death," and "Lose My Life," (my fav) with creepy echoes, heavy distortion and foggy echoes and I had found my new depression obsession. And I'm not the only one - the amount of buzz accumulating for this band, in addition to their playing both SXSW and Coachella this year makes me think that they're poised for success, and likely in multiple realms due to a slew of of singles and remixes strategically released into the blogosphere. Like their post punk turned dance predecessors, White Lies' gloom lends itself to dance rhythms as well, notably Rory Phillips' disco tinged dancefloor stormer remix of "Farewell to the Fairgrounds."
So if you're going through a breakup, depressed about the recession, or maybe just in a bad mood, instead of trying to fight it, embrace it, spend some time on iTunes and Hype Machine and listen to White Lies. If you don't feel better, at least you'll feel better about your decision to stay bummed.


While I don't know when White Lies' US debut To Lose My Life is slated to release, I can only imagine/hope that it will be at some point prior to their upcoming US tour. It doesn't even say on their MySpace, but I would stay posted. . .