Electropunk

Electropunk, also known as synthpunk, is a music genre combining elements of electronic music and punk rock.

History

A rehearsal tape by Suicide in 1975, The Units 4-song 7" on 9 August 1979, Pere Ubu's "My Dark Ages" (October 1979) with Alan Ravenstine on EML synthesizer (re-released on Rough Trade 049 on a 7" in 1980) and the first demo session by The Screamers with Pat Garrett on 7 July 1977 are candidates for the earliest synthpunk recording. The Units were referred to as "Punks playing keyboards" in an article in the "The San Francisco Examiner" in 1979, The Screamers were referred to as "techno-punk" in an article in the Los Angeles Times in 1978, but this did not become established as a genre name. However, in the USA, while a number of art bands moved more towards ambient, or art gallery collage sounds (Ant Farm, Ralph Records) The Units nailed it with ferocious singles like "i-night" which foreshadows The Prodigy and the more intense early work of the Chemical Brothers's "Block Rockin' Beats" for its intensity. The following year saw releases such as Minimal Man's live at The Deaf Club, "She Was A Visitor", and from (Seattle) Enstruction's 1982 "Keep Out Of My Body Bag" with its scattered and unsettling instructions. In Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Billy Synth and the Janitors (1978-1982) and later the Turn Ups took an ARP Odyssey synthesizer directly to punk. (Billy Synth found some wider acceptance on Sordide Sentimental, a cult label in Paris, that issued the single with Half Japanese called "Hartzdale Drive Destruction" (SS 33 003) in 1980.)