Wreckers of civilisation

Beware of post-postmodern types name-dropping COUM and Throbbing GristleTM as the proud parents of industrial music and industrial bands like Nine Inch Nails; that’s the half-assed version to expect from people who think they invented black. Here, Ford shows the patience and respect of an extragenerational fan while detailing the frenetic evolution of COUM from a hippie freak-out band to a performance art troupe to TG, an anti-rock, anti-high art missionary. Although TG’s attacks on social, political, sexual, musical, and artistic mores were brave, they often bordered on the hypocritical.