# The 10 Best Post-Punk Tracks of All Time What British and American bands did with punk's permission once its three chords ran out. Bass leads, guitars scrape rather than strum, and the rhythm section quietly imports funk, dub and German rock. - **Origin:** United Kingdom, 1978 - **Tempo:** 110–160 BPM - **Also known as:** postpunk, new wave, no wave - **Tracks:** 10 - **Updated:** 2026-08-29 - **Canonical page:** https://waxonia.com/genre/post-punk/ ## The list ### 1. [Joy Division](https://waxonia.com/artist/joy-division/) — [Love Will Tear Us Apart](https://waxonia.com/track/joy-division--love-will-tear-us-apart/) *1980 · Factory* Peter Hook plays the melody on bass, Bernard Sumner plays the atmosphere on a cheap synth, and Ian Curtis writes the plainest lyric of his life. The genre's one unarguable pop record. Also on: [The Eighties](https://waxonia.com/theme/the-eighties/), [The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-hundred/). [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Joy%20Division%20Love%20Will%20Tear%20Us%20Apart) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=zuuObGsB0No) ### 2. [Public Image Ltd](https://waxonia.com/artist/public-image-ltd/) — [Public Image](https://waxonia.com/track/public-image-ltd--public-image/) *1978 · Virgin* Lydon's first act after the Sex Pistols is to hire a dub bass player and make the guitar ring rather than chug. A resignation letter from punk, delivered as a single. Also on: [Roots](https://waxonia.com/theme/the-desk-roots/), [The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-hundred/). [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Public%20Image%20Ltd%20Public%20Image) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=rIAZ8unRm2c) ### 3. [Gang of Four](https://waxonia.com/artist/gang-of-four/) — [Damaged Goods](https://waxonia.com/track/gang-of-four--damaged-goods/) *1978 · Fast Product* Andy Gill treats the guitar as a percussion instrument that mostly stays silent. The politics are in the arrangement as much as the lyric, which is what separates this band from everyone who copied them. Also on: [The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-hundred/). [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Gang%20of%20Four%20Damaged%20Goods) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=F_7BVaDIAbA) ### 4. [The Cure](https://waxonia.com/artist/the-cure/) — [A Forest](https://waxonia.com/track/the-cure--a-forest/) *1980 · Fiction* Flanged guitar, a bassline that walks in a straight line, and a chorus that never quite resolves. The moment the Cure worked out that atmosphere could carry a hit single. [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/The%20Cure%20A%20Forest) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=xik-y0xlpZ0) ### 5. [Talking Heads](https://waxonia.com/artist/talking-heads/) — [Once in a Lifetime](https://waxonia.com/track/talking-heads--once-in-a-lifetime/) *1980 · Sire* Eno and the band build a looped Afro-funk bed and David Byrne has a public breakdown on top of it. Post-punk's most joyful record is also its most panicked. Also on: [The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-hundred/). [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Talking%20Heads%20Once%20in%20a%20Lifetime) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=5IsSpAOD6K8) ### 6. [The Slits](https://waxonia.com/artist/the-slits/) — [Typical Girls](https://waxonia.com/track/the-slits--typical-girls/) *1979 · Island* Dennis Bovell producing, so the reggae is real rather than borrowed. The Slits play deliberately loose against a lyric that dismantles every expectation the title sets up. [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/The%20Slits%20Typical%20Girls) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=0_HH5VTPTOo) ### 7. [Cabaret Voltaire](https://waxonia.com/artist/cabaret-voltaire/) — [Nag Nag Nag](https://waxonia.com/track/cabaret-voltaire--nag-nag-nag/) *1979 · Rough Trade* Sheffield industrialists run everything through distortion until the individual parts stop being identifiable. The link between post-punk and the electronic body music that followed it is right here. [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Cabaret%20Voltaire%20Nag%20Nag%20Nag) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=jCvTCw4dLFA) ### 8. [Magazine](https://waxonia.com/artist/magazine/) — [Shot by Both Sides](https://waxonia.com/track/magazine--shot-by-both-sides/) *1978 · Virgin* Howard Devoto leaves the Buzzcocks and immediately makes something more literate and more anxious. The riff is punk; the structure underneath it is not remotely. [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Magazine%20Shot%20by%20Both%20Sides) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=Qu3R-H5on1s) ### 9. [Bauhaus](https://waxonia.com/artist/bauhaus/) — [Bela Lugosi's Dead](https://waxonia.com/track/bauhaus--bela-lugosis-dead/) *1979 · Small Wonder* Nine minutes of dub delay, brushed drums and vamping, recorded live in one take. Absurd and completely committed, and gothic rock begins the moment it finishes. Also on: [The Waxonia Desk — Both Rooms](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-both-rooms/). [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Bauhaus%20Bela%20Lugosi's%20Dead) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=Yy9h2q_dr9k) ### 10. [New Order](https://waxonia.com/artist/new-order/) — [Ceremony](https://waxonia.com/track/new-order--ceremony/) *1981 · Factory* The last Joy Division song, released by the band that had to become something else to play it. The hinge on which British guitar music turned towards the dancefloor. [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/New%20Order%20Ceremony) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=kkASIx9Xk6s) --- Hand-curated by Waxonia. We host no audio; all links point to streaming platforms.