Keith Levene
Bands: Public Image, Ltd., The Clash
It is fitting that one of post-punk’s
greatest guitarists had so many
connections to the first wave of punk
rock. Keith Levene was an original
member of The Clash who later went
on to form Public Image Ltd. (PiL) with
John Lydon, A.K.A. Johnny Rotten,
former singer of The Sex Pistols. Lydon
was itching to take on something more
adventurous in the post-Pistols era,
and recruited Levene to play guitar in
his new dub and experimental-music
influenced group with bassist Jah
Wobble and drummer Jim Walker. The
band’s first two albums are absolutely
essential post-punk, marrying Wobble’s
hypnotic basslines with Levene’s cutting,
artfully effected shards of abstract
guitarisms. His tone and approach with
PiL has influenced everyone from The
Edge and Duane Denison, to the Red
Hot Chili Peppers. Crucial tracks include
“Albatross” and “Poptones” from PiL’s
Metal Box.
Roger Miller
Bands: Mission of Burma
Few bands have so brilliantly fused punk
rock immediacy and avant-garde sonic
textures as Boston’s Mission of Burma.
Formed in 1979, the band combined
an impenetrable wall of guitar noise
and Stockhausen-influenced tape loops
with thoughtful songwriting, big hooks,
and bristling punk energy. Their debut,
the Signals, Calls, and Marches EP, is
a post-punk classic, highlighted by
impossibly catchy anthems like “That’s
When I Reach for My Revolver.” 1983’s
Vs., Mission of Burma’s only full-length
album recorded before breaking up
(they eventually reformed to massive
acclaim in 2002) is similarly propulsive,
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but also more jarring and aggressive,
with Roger Miller’s proto-Sonic Youth
guitar assault at the forefront. Equal
parts cerebral and primal, Miller’s
distinctive playing influenced players
from Kurt Cobain and Lee Ranaldo, to
Peter Buck.
9 Absolutely Essential Post-Punk Guitarists