When I saw Joy Division play live, it felt like they were the most important band on earth. Here they were, these four lads from Manchester or thereabouts, who’d transcended punk and turned it into something far darker. Their album, Unknown Pleasures, felt like the soundtrack to some dystopian apocalypse. The record was a masterpiece of terrifying beauty, and Joy Division were soothsayers of an even scarier future. On the fortieth anniversary of the death of the band’s mercurial singer Ian Curtis, and almost four decades since the release of the band’s second and final album, Closer, the rest of the world seems to think so too. This is clear from the forthcoming re-press in July of Closer on crystal clear vinyl. Remastered versions of the band’s singles, Transmission, Love Will Tear Us Apart and Atmosphere, will be released on 12-inch vinyl simultaneously. These follow on from the 2019 commemorative edition of Joy Division’s debut album, Unknown Pleasures. Both acknowledge the
An archive of arts writing by Neil Cooper. Effete No Obstacle.