Kevin Alexander, of the terrific On Repeat Substack, is unabashed about his love for New Order. They are probably his favorite band if he’s pressed on the issue. He fell in love early and stayed deeply smitten through the intervening decades. It was with this knowledge that I asked Kevin to share his assessment of the first four albums by New Order. If there was a single person that I knew who was within my own orbit that was most qualified for this task, it was Kevin.
The resulting essay, which was published just last week at What Am I Making, is the best sort of deep dive on the band’s early catalog. Kevin contextualizes New Order’s early releases with the weight and impact of Ian Curtis’s death and the dissolution of Joy Division, the band that would eventually become New Order. More than learning to become a new band after the death of their bandmate and friend, the remaining members of Joy Division created a new outfit, and a new sound that would help to define an entire musical movement.
New Order: The First Four
This essay is a piece in our continuing series exploring the first four records of important artists through the ages.
Kevin and I weave our way through New Order’s first four records beginning with the icy cool debut Movement on through to Brotherhood, an album that Alexander has referred to as having abundant “middle child energy”. We chart the growth of the band’s sound, explore the way that drugs and the local dance scene influenced the sonic qualities of New Order as they evolved and explore the separation that occurred amongst band members as technology took precedence over songwriting.
There is extensive discussion as well of the band’s visual appearance, especially as informed by the artist and designer Peter Saville who designed all of the band’s early cover art. We also delve into a number of the incredible singles that New Order released in this window of time as well.
It’s a critical appraisal of one band being formed from the ashes of another. It is a story of resilience, innovation, and even some bad luck. It’s a New Order story filled with a shade or two of unabashed love. Hope ya dig it.
Cheers,
Matty C
Brian Eno: The First Four
This piece is from the What Am I Making Archives. It was first published on August 24, 2023. This version has been lightly updated and edited for this posting.
Peter Gabriel: The First Four
This piece is from the What Am I Making Archives. It was first published on August 16, 2023. This version has been lightly updated and edited for this posting.
Echo & The Bunnymen: The First Four
What Am I Making is ad-free and currently operating without any paywall to keep access open to all of our readers. This work is powered solely by paid subscribers. Please consider a paid subscription today.
Luna: The First Four
Dean Wareham’s band, Galaxie 500 was ascendant in the spring of 1991. Critical acclaim had poured in for Galaxie’s newest LP, This Is Our Music, and lengthy international tours with larger acts like Cocteau Twins had massive boosted their profile. Even still, Wareham was blowing up the band.
Wilco: The First Four
It took less than a month for Jeff Tweedy to form a new band after Uncle Tupelo broke up. Jay Farrar, his Tupelo co-creator called the band quits in May of 1994 and went on to form his own new group, Son Volt.
Share this post