Gang of Four, the pioneering rock band formed in Leeds, England, in the late 1970s, helped define the sound of post-punk with its string of seminal albums, including Entertainment! and Solid Gold.
The band, which performs at the 9:30 Club in Washington tonight, has broken up and reformed multiple times since the ’80s but had not released an album of new material since 1995’s Shrinkwrapped. Despite the time off, guitarist Andy Gill and singer Jon King — Gang of Four’s main songwriters and the only original members in the current lineup — have remained friends and the undisputed leaders of the band.
“Andy and I, from the moment we founded the band, wrote all the music, produced all the music, did all the artwork and everything,” King said. “Wherever Andy and I are is where the band is based.”
January saw the release of the group’s first new record in more than 15 years, Content. The 10-track album is full of Gill’s signature guitar riffs and King’s politically charged lyrics. With Content, Gang of Four wanted to return to the ideas that the band’s first albums dealt with.
“As soon as we got back together and had some time doing those [2005 reunion] shows, we immediately started writing music,” King said. “And initially, for no particular reason. And after a while we hit on something. We wanted to make an album that was like a sister piece to Entertainment! and Solid Gold — a companion piece — and make sure that we got the sound right and kept it simple and kept it like the music was stacked side by side, not layered at all.”
Lyrically, King wanted to tackle issues that citizens of the world are confronted with every day.
“We live in a world where — for a long time, we were told everything was perfect and there was no other way to organize our society and there was no other way to organize the things we do and what we think about,” King said. “And of course, that’s not true and never was true. And in the last couple of years, I think people have realized there are other things that are going on and are important.
“When I say it’s sort of a companion piece to those first ones, I’m not saying you want to write the same song again, but the question that you ask is, ‘How long do you corroborate in your own misery or in your own confusion?’,” he added. “They’re interesting questions. And living in this time, like always, of invisible change, every time you walk down the street, you get an idea for a song.”
King says the band does not have great expectations when it comes to album sales but hopes the occasion of a record release will spur people to attend concerts.
“The point these days is that now that no one actually pays for music — they share it with their buddies — is to [listen to the band] and then come along and see us playing,” King said. “That’s what I want in Washington, D.C. I want anyone to come to our show, really. That’s really the point of releasing any sort of music — is to have people come along and see you live.”
Despite the upset state of the music industry, Gang of Four still puts considerable thought into designing a physical product. For Content, the band created a large quantity of artwork and special booklets to go with the hard copy of the album. Along with the finished product, the group also offered special pre-order packages, one of which invited fans to bid on the chance to take a helicopter ride with the group to a summer music festival.
Also available to purchase with the album: a vial of bandmembers’ own blood.
“You have to make the things they might pay for worthwhile and powerful and interesting,” King said. “And we’ve always been keen to make the artwork as stimulating and interesting as the recorded music.”
Considering the artwork of Content includes a book of spells and a book of emotions, you can guarantee the music within is just as captivating as magic and equally powerful in human expression. And don’t forget the vial of blood.
Gang of Four will play at the 9:30 Club tonight. Doors open at 7 p.m. Tickets cost $35.
rhiggins@umdbk.com
