Artist portrait: Josef K - a formative clockwork of post-punk (-revivals)

2023-08-10 17:14:32

Josef K’s formative movement only ran for a short time, but was ahead of its time. The four Scots Paul Haig, Malcolm Ross, David Weddell and Ronnie Torrance, who named themselves after the main character in Kafka’s novel The Trial, were active from 1979 – 1982 and released singles and their only album on the Postcard label, which also included the Post-punk/jangle-pop band Orange Juice.

But Josef K stopped at the peak of their career and never achieved the success of their label mates Orange Juice, who threw on the disco machine with their second album.

As with Orange Juice, Josef K’s music is also driven by funk and disco rhythms, so it sounds Heart of Song for example after the intricate, funky Talking Heads.

Gray is Manchester, birthplace of post-punk; gray is probably also Edinburgh/Glasgow.

In Josef K the parts of the musicians intertwine like clockwork. Radio Drill Time is a frantic clockwork, in which jagged metal guitars interlock with bass playing and very present, ticking hi-hat of the drums. Also Fun ‚N‘ Frenzy walks headlong through the city. Here again the ticking, superficial hi-hat. The guitar sound is very shrill, which may not work well on its own, but works very well in the mix and enables Josef K’s own sound.

Of course, frontman Paul Haig was also a fan of post punk founding fathers Joy Division and wrote the song It’s Kinda Funny about Ian Curtis. Unlike Joy Division, however, David Weddell’s bass rarely marches through the shadowy darkness on one and the same note. He goes his own way freely and breaks out again and again, a very free, lively and melodious bass playing – which Carlos Dengler from Interpol audibly took as an example.

Josef K’s first album “Sorry for Laughing” was discarded due to poor production, as the rhythm section dominated too much and the guitars were too subtle. The drum hi-hat ticking like clockwork. They strived for a more live-oriented sound for the album, which should now be called “The Only Fun in Town”.

The legendary radio DJ John Peel was a fan, Josef K played one of the famous Peel sessions in June 1981.

After a handful of successful shows following the album release and shortly before a single release of the Farewell single, frontman Paul Haig broke up the band at the peak of their career.

Josef K never played an encore at their concerts because they found it too patriarchal. As mentioned above, others played the encore in the limelight – 20 years later Interpol, among others, picked up the sound of Josef Ks in the post-punk revival.

Interpol, where they weren’t exactly inspired by the Chameleons.

Franz Ferdinand, where they weren’t exactly inspired by Gang of Four or Killing Joke.

Both bands got Josef K’s formative, rusted clockwork running again and sold it umpteen times.