The Indie Anthology 42: essential songs

We went to Primera Persona Festival past weekend and, among the most interesting acts I was lucky to listen & watch Green Gartside (Scritti Politti) and Bob Stanley (Saint Etienne) talking about music, mainly the post-punk era and the meaning of indie music then and now. They also played some records... and made me remember the band I vindicate today on our Anthology. Hope you enjoy...

Song: Heaven Sent
Artist: Josef K
Year: 1987 (posthumous single release date, original tune from 1981)

Short-lived, unsuccessful and neglected by music history books, Scottish post-punk band Josef K were only active between 1979 and 1982, although some releases, including this powerful Heaven Sent single, appeared and received some buzz years after they group broke up. Often considered like a minor, obscure & doomed version of Orange Juice, I have always thought of them as being more aligned with Joy Division (don't forget to listen to It's Kinda Funny) but flirting with jangle and funky guitar lines instead of icy synths. Also blame me for loving bands influenced by literature (and have great lyrics). Post-punk meeting Kafka and Dostoevsky? Josef K were a band for me! What a shame they didn't have a longer career...