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The British post-punk pioneers who fused punk's nervous edge with art rock atmosphere, shaping a generation of British guitar music.

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The British post-punk pioneers who fused punk's nervous edge with art rock atmosphere, shaping a generation of British guitar music.

MOODS · moody · atmospheric · tense · art rock · post-punk

BIOGRAPHY

Magazine formed in 1977 in Manchester, founded by former Buzzcocks singer Howard Devoto alongside guitarist John McGeoch, bassist Barry Adamson, keyboardist Bob Dickinson, and drummer Martin Jackson. Signed to Virgin Records by the end of their debut year, the band quickly established a sound built on jagged chords, gloomy atmospheric textures, and Devoto's mix of social commentary and poetic lyricism. Their 1978 debut Real Life is widely regarded as a pioneering post-punk record, later included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. The band released four albums before splitting in 1981, with McGeoch departing earlier that year to join Siouxsie & the Banshees. Magazine briefly reunited in 2009 for live shows and released a new studio album, No Thyself, in 2011.

WHY THEY'RE COOL

Magazine helped define post-punk by marrying punk's raw urgency to art rock ambition, theatrical live performance, and layered keyboard textures. Their debut Real Life remains a touchstone of the genre, and their influence stretches forward through bands like Radiohead, who have covered their song 'Shot by Both Sides' live and echoed its style on 'Just'. Morrissey, a Devoto acquaintance, later covered 'A Song from Under the Floorboards', underscoring the band's lasting resonance across generations of British guitar music.

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