Gang Of Four, Entertainment!

"Entertainment!" both confirms and denies everything you've been brought up to believe about post-punk. Lyrically it's as abstract and metaphorical as the rest of the art-house gang, yet resolutely direct in subject: exploding economic power dynamics, attacking consumer culture, decrying the media's invasion of the bedroom. There's easily a semester's-worth of Foucault jammed in here, presented with a sense of art and restraint that few of Gang Of Four's contemporaries, and even less of their descedants could match.

The music's equally contradictory. The angular and jangly guitars, mononotone vocals and treble-heavy production are par for the post-punk course (nuttin' wrong with that when it's as tight as it is here), but the astoundingly heavy funk carried by the rhythm section drags the skinny punker onto the dancefloor kicking and screaming, fulfilling the promise of the first punks' envy of and appreciation for all things reggae and dancehall. Any sick freaks still bent on citing The Cure as an influence on The Rapture and their kin would be well served by listening to the first thirty seconds of "Not Great Men" and "Return The Gift".

Somehow managing to capture the ironic disattachment that's become de rigeur for modern-day hipsters who don't get the joke as well as impassioned revolt against all things static and lifeless, "Entertainment" is essential for those wanting to run to tomorrow while fighting for today.

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