BLOWIN' INDIE WIND Gang of four

Author: [no author name found]

Nowadays the NYC dance-punk scene is everywhere. The movement's central figure, James Murphy, released his group LCD Soundsystem's eponymous debut album this January. He now can comfortably charge $6,000 a show and be a rock star. But how did Murphy get to be king of hipper-than-thou NYC-ness? In 2002, James Murphy and music partner Tim Goldsworthy - who are together known as the DFA - produced the Rapture's career-making hit single "House of Jealous Lovers," promoting the band and the producers to the forefront of the burgeoning dance-punk scene. While generations of young, impressionable hipsters naturally thought that "House of Jealous Lovers" was mind-blowingly original, it's actually highly derivative of a great band that is painfully overlooked. This band is Gang of Four.

If you want to talk about who really started the dance-punk scene, you're going to have to come back to 1979 with me. Gang of Four formed in Leeds, England in the late '70s, quickly developing an edgy, funky sound that retained the energy and abrasiveness of punk, but was also in tune with the infectious dance-beats of the disco movement and the rhythmic, minimalist guitars of the post-punk movement. I know that using the term "post-punk" is about as vague as using the term "indie rock," and to be fair, way too many groups that sounded nothing alike were lumped under the moniker "post-punk," but the term does fit Gang of Four well. While many critics focus on Gang of Four's first album, "Entertainment!" I'd like to engage their second album, "Solid Gold," which is the one that sounds remarkably like the Rapture.

Opening with "Paralysed" (they're British), the first sound we hear is that of a repeated snare rim tap. The twangy, muted guitar - one of the band's elements that the Rapture copies - comes in at a polyrhythm to the fleshed-out drumbeat, and soon the bass comes in with a completely different rhythm. While this might sound cacophonous, the band molds all three into an enticing groove. Lead singer Jon King begins narrating in his native British accent, and the song is periodically thrown into silence by dramatic stops and starts. If there was one song that the DFA and the Rapture fashioned "House of Jealous Lovers" after, it would be the album's second track, "What We All Want." And they had good reason to - this song is brilliant, with a more upbeat drum tempo than "Paralysed," and a infectiously rhythmic riff from Andy Gill's taut guitar.

One of Gang of Four's key components was the highly political nature of their lyrics, which heavily criticized economically-obsessed society. While incendiary on their debut, Gang of Four's fiery lyrics reach their biting peak on "Solid Gold," as evidenced from such song titles as "Outside the Trains Don't Run on Time," "He'd Send in the Army" and "Why Theory?" Witness the funky "Cheeseburger," in which King declares "I move from one place to the next / I hope they keep down the price of gas / I shoot the best, are you taking dollars? / See how I will run the table." Combining a tense, edgy beat with atonal guitar twangs and a fluid, catchy bass line, it is perhaps the most abrasive and simultaneously exciting track on the album.

Sadly, aside from a couple decent singles, this was Gang of Four's last shining moment before they dissolved into the mire of the 1980s. Their legacy limps along, thanks to preachy elitist critics who try to shove the band down people's throats, and dance-punk producers like the DFA who knowingly rip-off their sound. Unfortunately, speaking of Gang of Four's greatness is a moot point right now, as it's a little difficult to get your hands on either of Gang of Four's first two albums, which are available only as pricey imports. So unless you're into shelling out $25.00 for a 40-minute disc, you'll have to hold out. But if "Solid Gold" ever does make it back into American stores without an Import tag on it, I suggest picking it up if you like your post-punk with a bit of spice.