Top 10 Best Post-Punk Songs

Guitars sharper than safety pins, rhythms colder than concrete, lyrics that sound like journal entries scribbled in dim apartments. Post-punk wasn't just a genre, it was an attitude. When the initial blast of punk in the late 70s burned fast and hot, you got the sense something had to come next. Bands didn't just want to shout against the system anymore. They wanted to twist it, dissect it, and rebuild it into something stranger. Out came music that borrowed the rawness of punk but layered it with experimentation, art-school sensibilities, and a healthy dose of unease.

You hear it in the wiry guitars of the late 70s, the icy synthesizers creeping into the early 80s, and the way singers could sound half-detached yet cuttingly direct. Post-punk stretched across continents, from the UK to Eastern Europe to the U.S., shaping entire generations of underground music. It's the sound that paved the way for goth, new wave, indie rock, and pretty much every band that ever tried to make darkness sound stylish.

So what are the best post-punk songs? Maybe you'll stand by the classics, or maybe you'll throw your support behind a track you think deserves more attention.

The Top Ten

  1. Marquee Moon - Television

  2. Love Will Tear Us Apart - Joy Division

    The essence of post-punk, in my opinion.

  3. Jocko Homo - Devo

  4. London Calling - The Clash

  5. Gardening at Night - R.E.M.

  6. Rock Lobster - The B-52's

  7. Play for Today - The Cure

  8. Making Plans for Nigel - XTC

  9. Second Skin - The Chameleons

  10. Disorder - Joy Division

    11. The Newcomers
  11. ?

    Killing an Arab - The Cure

  12. ?

    Crosseyed and Painless - Talking Heads

    13. The Contenders

  13. North by North - The Bats

  14. Loveless Love - The Feelies

  15. The Boy with the Perpetual Nervousness - The Feelies

  16. Too Far Gone - The Feelies

  17. Higher Ground - The Feelies

  18. She's in Parties - Bauhaus

    Oh hell yeah, this is an absolute classic. It should be first, but it's okay. I'm very grateful to God because one of my favorite songs made it to second place. That's great, especially since the song actually has some meaningful lyrics.

    I personally think it's the best one here!

  19. Once in a Lifetime - Talking Heads

    This is one of those catchy songs you can hear all day. Afterward, you feel goosebumps because the song predicted that you wouldn't go to school, and somehow you're very safe from your parents.

    That was something real. It happens to me almost every day, and I'm only 13.

    The lyrics are so meaningful. The message is meaningful. The voice is crazy but meaningful too.

    The song, in general, is for me the best post-punk song ever created.

    A Talking Heads song that's not number one always creates a big problem for any list.

  20. Gruppa krovi - Kino

  21. Khochu peremen - Kino

  22. The Dream's Dream - Television

  23. Damaged Goods - Gang of Four

    I have to go with this song! In my opinion, it should be first, but I'm also very glad that at least it won the third position, like the bronze medal on the list!

    Of course it's below She's in Parties. So rare. You don't care about quality!

  24. Zvezda po imeni Solntse - Kino

  25. A Forest - The Cure

    How is this not in the top 10?

  26. Zakroy za mnoy dver, ya ukhogu - Kino

  27. The Great Curve - Talking Heads

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