Artists Like Joy Division: 11 Post-Punk & Darkwave Bands

After Ian Curtis's death, the remaining members of Joy Division became New Order and fused their post-punk roots with electronic dance music. "Power, Corruption & Lies" (1983) and "Brotherhood" (1986) show the transition. The melancholy is still there — it just moves your feet now.

Robert Smith's band explored the same dark emotional territory as Joy Division but added layers of texture, melody and, eventually, pop accessibility. "Seventeen Seconds" (1980) and "Faith" (1981) are the closest sonic cousins. "Disintegration" (1989) is one of the greatest albums ever made.

Bauhaus took post-punk's bleakness further into theatrical territory. Peter Murphy's baritone and Daniel Ash's dissonant guitar created gothic rock. "In the Flat Field" (1980) is claustrophobic and brilliant. Their "Bela Lugosi's Dead" is the founding document of the goth genre.

The most direct inheritors of Joy Division's sound. Paul Banks's baritone vocals, Carlos Dengler's melodic bass lines, and the band's austere arrangements make "Turn on the Bright Lights" (2002) sound like it could have been recorded in Manchester in 1979.

Birmingham's Editors emerged in the post-punk revival of the mid-2000s with Tom Smith's Ian Curtis-influenced baritone and angular guitar arrangements. "The Back Room" (2005) is their finest hour — urgent, claustrophobic and melodically rich.

Siouxsie Sioux and John McGeoch created some of the most experimental and textured music in the post-punk canon. Their early records share Joy Division's darkness, but with more psychedelic colour. "Join Hands" (1979) and "Kaleidoscope" (1980) are essential.

Wire stripped rock to its bones. "Pink Flag" (1977), "Chairs Missing" (1978) and "154" (1979) form one of the most rigorous and influential trilogies in post-punk. The minimalism and tension directly informed Joy Division and every post-punk band that followed.

Andrew Eldritch's deep baritone over drum-machine rhythms and Andrew Taylor's chiming guitars created a more grandiose, maximalist version of Joy Division's darkness. "First and Last and Always" (1985) is essential gothic rock.

Ian McCulloch's resonant voice and Will Sergeant's atmospheric guitar work gave Echo and the Bunnymen a warmer, more expansive take on post-punk's emotional intensity. "Heaven Up Here" (1981) and "Porcupine" (1983) are brilliant.

Gang of Four brought Marxist politics and funk rhythms to post-punk's angular attack. Andy Gill's choppy, dissonant guitar and Hugo Burnham's driving drums created a sound that was both danceable and abrasive. "Entertainment!" (1979) is a landmark.

For those who want the Joy Division sound in a contemporary setting, Lebanon Hanover deliver stripped-back coldwave with Larissa Iceglass's expressionless vocals and minimal drum machine arrangements. "Why Not Just Be Solo" (2012) is a strong entry point.